Back to Start
by xthesebonesx
Summary: With each hour, minute, and second, we are reminded that our lives can transform, at any given moment. Love can be found or saved, just as easily as it is destroyed or lost. We can begin a new start, or suffer from the bitter end, as punishment for our mistakes, or rewards for our bravery. But what do you do when the person you fell in love with doesn't even know who you are?
1. Back to the Start

**Back to the Start**

"_Questions of science; science and progress do not speak as loud as my heart."_

-Coldplay, "The Scientist"

She could hear nothing but the sound of a persistent beep, coupled with the tireless beating of her heart, as her eyes opened up to the incandescent lights cascading onto her.

She exhaled lightly as her eyes continued to focus in on the room and the machinery surrounding her; it wasn't familiar at all, actually, and that made her stomach drop when it suddenly dawned on her just where she was.

_She was in a hospital._

She lifted her forearm, and choked a bit on the air she was breathing when she noticed that her skin had been injected with various I.V's. The girl swallowed hard, though it was a struggle to contain her emotions, as her fingers tapped against the edge of her hospital bed.

_What the hell was she doing here? And why? _

Her frantic thoughts were soon interrupted the minute her door opened, and a fresh—but friendly—face popped their head in with a smile, and her panic subsided for a second.

_Perhaps she could get some answers._

"Bonnie, you're awake," the woman in the white lab coat said, and she gulped in a bout of air as she advanced towards her in a steady, but easy, motion.

_Bonnie. Her name was Bonnie. She knew that._

The brunette proceeded to adjust her stethoscope, and within seconds, she was checking everything from Bonnie's pulse, to her blood pressure, to her vision and hearing. She wanted to talk; she wanted to scream, actually, and find out just what the hell was going on. But she couldn't get a word in edgewise as Doctor Meredith Fell—she read her name tag—continued to test her for everything under the sun, before sending her a gentle smile that scared and equalized her all at once.

_She needed to get to the bottom of this._

"Where am I?" Bonnie asked, as she looked up into the eyes of the olive-skinned woman before her. "Well—I _know _where I am—but why? Why am I in a hospital? Strapped up to all of these _things_—"she asked, as she began to pull at the I.V's, and Dr. Fell stopped her.

"Bonnie—don't," the woman urged, and she blinked with question as the doctor readjusted the wires, before picking up her clipboard, and scribbling away for what seemed like hours, as Bonnie watched her. "You've been in a terrible accident, and these machines—they're going to _help _you, so we can get you back home, and to your normal life, okay?"

Bonnie's eyes widened as she stared up at the woman, and she shook her head furiously to suppress the anxiety that was building inside of her.

Why was this woman being so calm when it was obvious that everything was _not _okay? It agitated and aggravated her, immediately.

"Accident? What kind of an accident, Dr. Fell?"

"A car accident," she said, and Bonnie's stomach wrenched. "You were on your way home from work, when a truck driver fell asleep at the wheel… An eyewitness told us that you tried to swerve out of his way—and you did, fortunately—but your car flipped; about five times, and you were knocked unconscious. You suffered a concussion, as well as a decent amount of blood loss, and a few broken ribs, which since have been repaired in surgery... But other than that, just a few scrapes and bruises, but nothing too major that you won't convalesce from, in time. And the fact that you know where you are—_a hospital—_spells great things for your recovery. I'd say you were one of the lucky ones, Bonnie."

Bonnie's fingers trembled, as Dr. Fell continued to write, and she attempted to sit up, though her body felt like jelly, and she suddenly felt the bandages from her surgery wrapped around her ribs. Bonnie placed a hand to them, and smoothed her skin over the bandages before looking up again and exhaling a deep breath.

She'd survived a car accident that should have killed her, without any life-threatening or altering injuries? This just sounded way too good to be true.

"Was anybody else harmed?" she asked, and Dr. Fell sighed at that.

"The truck driver—Galen Vaughn—suffered a lot of head trauma, and is in spinal reconstructive surgery," she said, and Bonnie gasped. "But he's going to make it, Bonnie. But his family… they're upset. They came to talk to you, yesterday; to say they were sorry."

"I don't remember that," Bonnie said, and Dr. Fell nodded.

"I wouldn't expect you to. You were still knocked out from your injuries. You had… plenty of visitors, though. I was starting to think the entire town of Mystic Falls would show up. It is… a _miracle _that you escaped this, fully intact, Bonnie. I want you to realize that. Before you're discharged from the hospital, Bonnie, I would like for you to meet with our house psychologist. I know you may not think that you need help now, but many victims of accidents begin to feel this sense of… _guilt _after they've survived an accident, virtually unscathed. Talking to someone will help to not only ease those fears, but hopefully banish them… Help you to realize that you are alive because you _deserve _to be."

Bonnie shook her head in agreement, before taking in a deep breath.

She _was _lucky that she survived this accident with the minor injuries that she did. Compared to what _could _have happened, this was nothing, and she was very thankful just to be alive. It wouldn't be long before she was all healed, and she could get back to living her life, with a brand new perspective and sacred motto for it all.

_The philosophers were right; life _was _way too short._

That didn't mean that she didn't feel incredibly guilty that the truck driver hadn't made it out so easily from their near collision. It would take time, and plenty of healing, but she'd eventually pay her respects to his family, as well.

No one could have predicted this would have happened. She wasn't into pointing fingers, either.

"I do… feel lucky," Bonnie said gently. "And _thank you, _Dr. Fell. Seriously… I… can only imagine all that you've done for me, since this happened, and I can't even begin to properly express what that means to me."

Dr. Fell placed a hand on Bonnie's shoulder reassuringly, and smiled gently.

"A lot of it is science, Bonnie; we… do X-rays, MRI's, surgeries, and CT scans to figure out the best way we can help you and keep you alive. But there's another part that many people don't believe in, but _I _do, and I think it's just as important… _Love. _The power of _love, _Bonnie is such a great thing that sometimes, it overrules science. Sometimes, there isn't a damn thing me or any of my colleagues can do, but your heart—your heart _knows _what it wants. And it _fights;_ it doesn't stop fighting until it's satisfied. So… my 'science' may have fixed you, Bonnie, but it's the _love _that _you know _that kept you here in the first place. It's what made it sure that you didn't die the night of that accident."

Bonnie didn't say a word, as she took in Meredith's speech, and tried her best to figure out just how the hell this applied to her, at all.

Her love for _who? _And from _who? _Sure, she had friends and a family—an estranged one, at that—but what the hell did that have to do with her fighting? When that MACK truck threatened to squash her to pieces, she was sure that the very last thing on her mind was anything other than the fact that she was about to be _dead._

She didn't even remember the accident at all; so how the hell was there anything in her thoughts—or in her heart—that saved her from it, anyway?

Before Bonnie could thank her for her hapless optimism, the door to her hospital room opened, and her heart was immediately filled with joy the second she saw the two faces advancing towards her.

_Elena Gilbert and Caroline Forbes. Her best friends since High School; she remembered those faces._

"Bonnie!" Caroline shrieked, as the blonde quickly ran towards her, and wrapped her up into a painful—but promising—hug, that made her groan and smile brightly all at once.

Elena was much gentler when it came to her turn to hug the girl, as she eased her arms around her in such a soft manner, it quite literally made Bonnie sigh with relief.

_Her best friends were here, and now, she didn't feel so alone. Maybe she had been fighting for them, all along. Though she was still kind of convinced this wasn't the "love" Dr. Fell had been referring to._

"We were so worried," Caroline said, as her blue eyes filled with tears, and she quickly wiped them away. "They said you would be okay, but Bonnie; you almost _died_," she added, with a sad shake of her head. "And I don't know what we would do without you."

Bonnie took their hands into each of her own, and squeezed them tightly, as she tried to fight back the tears that threatened to roll down her cheeks. She ultimately failed when she tasted them on her lips, but she smiled anyway, as she let out a deep sigh.

"I'm happy to be alive. You… honestly don't realize what you have until you almost lose it," she said, and Elena nodded her head as she squeezed her hand tighter.

"Trust us—we _know. _It's been so hard for all of us. Damon, especially. Contacting your family, trying to book a flight back into the country—he almost went _crazy._"

_Damon?_

Bonnie remained silent as she stared up into Elena's chestnut eyes and the girl immediately sensed the hesitation in her movement. Elena's eyes narrowed slightly, and just as she began to speak, the door was open again, and in walked one more visitor, with no words at all.

Bonnie sat up straighter and glanced around the room—she had nearly forgotten Meredith was still here, to be honest—and everyone was just giving her this _look _as if something completely monumental happened.

_What the hell was going on? Why was everyone acting so weird, just because this _guy _interrupted the moment? Was he the psychologist Meredith had been talking about, or something?_

"Mr. Salvatore," Dr. Fell said, as she immediately walked over towards him, and extended her hand. "I'm Dr. Meredith Fell. We spoke earlier, on the phone, about Bonnie."

"We did—I remember. Thank you," the man said, as he bit his bottom lip, and casted his oceanic blue eyes over towards the bed where Bonnie was stationed in and her two best friends were practically laying on, as they refused to let her go. "I know we have a lot to discuss—"

"It can wait," Meredith said, with a hopeful smile. "Go… get reacquainted. I'll be back with the paper work and lab results in a few minutes, okay?"

The man nodded, and Bonnie watched as Caroline and Elena finally rose to their feet, and walked up to him, as well. She didn't know why, but everyone just seemed so on _edge _around this guy, and it wasn't making any sense to her, at all. She'd concluded that he was quite possibly the most _underdressed _employee at this hospital, in his plain black t-shirt that hugged his biceps appropriately, his messy, raven hair, and his dark blue jeans, that he paired with gray combat boots.

_Psychologist, definitely. She could just tell by the way they were all behaving around him—nobody wanted to fall victim to his psychoanalysis about them or their lives._

_She couldn't blame them._

Bonnie studied the man as he spoke to her friends quietly, and she realized just how _handsome _he was, the longer she stared at him. His milky skin was much paler than her own, but it was perfectly contrasted against the dark colors he'd chosen to clothe himself in. His chiseled jaw, broad shoulders, and long torso—they were all drool-worthy, as he crossed his arms over his chest, and spoke evenly, though she had to struggle to even catch a shot of the sound of his voice.

The thing that intrigued her the most? His eyes, naturally.

They were _easily _his most noticeable feature, as they seemed to pierce through everything they glanced at, and sparkled in an almost surreal sort of way. She didn't know people even _had _eyes that shade of blue, and though she should have been admonishing herself for being this attracted to the guy who probably would be leading her therapy, she couldn't help it. He was ridiculously good-looking, and she felt no shame in admitting that.

_So why the hell were Caroline and Elena staring at him like he was just so _ordinary? _If Bonnie didn't know any better, she'd say the two weren't even fazed at all by his charm and that baffled her. She hadn't even spoken to him, and she was enchanted._

Her thoughts were interrupted when she realized he was suddenly standing before her, and Elena and Caroline were waving and saying their temporary farewells. Bonnie shifted in her seat, as he sat down in the chair beside her, and looked into her eyes.

To say she felt like the Atlantic was crashing against her, repeatedly, would be an understatement, as Bonnie suddenly felt like her entire universe was drowning within in his gaze. There was just something about him—about this _moment —_that was completely mind blowing, and she couldn't peel herself away from it, even if she tried.

Literally; she couldn't move.

Much to her surprise, he took her hand into his own, and Bonnie inhaled as his fingers traced her skin softly, before gripping her tightly.

_That _was probably against the code of ethics at this hospital. If he turned out to be weird or creepy, she'd have to remember to report him for that. But only if she didn't end up dating him, first.

His thumb circled over hers for a few seconds before finally, he opened his mouth to speak.

"I'm sorry," were the words to come out of his mouth, and her brows furrowed as she continued to gaze into his eyes. "This is… all of my fault, Bonnie."

Bonnie remained quiet, as he exhaled and shook his head in disbelief.

_Okay. Maybe this guy _wasn't _a psychologist, but who the hell was he? And why did he think that her car accident was his fault?_

"I shouldn't have called you… and started that fight. You were… on the phone with _me, _when it happened. I heard your car flip, and the line go dead, and I just knew; I _knew _that I really screwed up, this time."

Bonnie ran her tongue over her lips, and her heart began pounding as this _stranger _was seemingly spilling his soul, and she could do nothing but listen.

She had been on the phone with him? She _knew _him? Her head ached with petulance as she realized she was trying to put a name to his face, but she couldn't.

_She couldn't remember him at all; and that terrified her. _

"I know… they said that the truck driver is the one who fell asleep at the wheel, but I don't think that I can just blame _him. _If you hadn't been on the phone, trying to calm me down, you would have seen him coming, before it was too late. Before you…" he stopped, and looked back into her eyes. "I didn't mean what I said, Bonnie; I didn't mean _any of it. _And I will do whatever it takes to fix this—to fix _us_; because I love you—and I'm not ready to throw this all away… Not yet."

Bonnie's heart positively stopped as the words flowed from his lips, onto her ears, and deep down into her soul.

_He what?_

In all her life, she had never been a stranger to crazy things happening to her, but _this _had to be the craziest. This _gorgeous _guy, who she had never met in her life, was _convinced _that he not only caused her car accident, but that he was in _love _with her? It didn't make sense any way that she sliced it, and her stomach was in _knots _the longer that he looked at her, this way—like he actually _believed _what he was saying.

Like he _believed _that he was in love with _her._

Did this hospital double as a psychiatric ward, as well?

Her breath got caught in her throat when his hand smoothed up her neck, and rested on her caramel cheek. She had been unaware of it before, but now, she could definitely tell that he had been crying at some point, as his impeccable blue eyes were rimmed with red, and his forehead wrinkled with worry. Bonnie bit her lip and searched his stare for any answers, but she continuously came up empty the harder that she tried.

This was, without a doubt, the most nerve-wracking and awkward moment of her life. What was she supposed to say? Or do? And where the hell was Dr. Meredith Fell when she needed her?

"Bonnie," he said again, in that soft, velvety voice that captured her attention once more, as his thumb grazed her jaw. "_Please _say you'll give me another chance. I don't deserve it—I know that. But I _need _it… I need _you_."

Bonnie pursed her lips and blinked quietly as she saw the surefire desperation in her eyes, and she could feel her heart sink, the longer that they sat in silence.

She wanted to tell him, all of the things he wanted to hear; she wanted him to know that she was okay, and whatever happened over the phone couldn't have possibly mattered because you couldn't change fate, anyhow. She wanted to _comfort _this stranger—for reasons she could not quite understand—but the longer she stared at him, the harder it began to hit her.

_The truth was all that he needed to know; and if she lied to him, she'd make things worse. She'd wound whoever this man was, even more than he was already damaged, and she just didn't have the heart to do that. She couldn't hurt him by pretending to be what he wanted her to be, right now._

Bonnie gently pulled her hands away, and the man sunk with despair, as his mind began to race a mile a minute.

_This was it; the final straw—she had finally been done with him, just like she said she would be, and there was nothing he could do to stop or change her mind. _

"Bonnie," he started. "I really am sorry—"

"I don't… know what you're apologizing about," she finally said, and he sent her a look of utter confusion, as she took in a deep breath and gulped down her fear.

"What? I—I know Dr. Fell said that your memory would be shaky concerning the accident and things after it, but… we were fighting before, Bonnie. I was… in Dubai on business, and drunk and I called you because you… sent me an email, saying that you wanted us to go our separate ways… I took the first flight I could back here when Caroline called me, and told me you were seriously hurt."

Bonnie shook her head, and he ran his hand over his slight five o'clock shadow, as she prepared herself to say the words that he didn't even realize he dreaded, until she finally said them.

"I—I don't remember any of that… I don't even remember _you. _I don't know who you are."

Bonnie watched as all of the color in his skin flushed from his face and his formally dejected eyes were now firm with incomprehension. He sat up straighter, and she felt like a blow just hit her square in the chest.

_She could only imagine how he was feeling._

"Bonnie, that's impossible… Y-You _have _to know who I am," he said a bit frantically, and her brows scrunched. "I'm Damon, remember?"

Bonnie sighed as she shook her head, and his eyes widened.

"Nothing about _you _sounds familiar, Damon—and I'm sorry. I'm _really _sorry if we were… dating or something and I can't remember you, but with the accident, I just—"

Bonnie froze appropriately as Damon reached over, and grabbed her left hand and presented it to her. She shakily looked down, and it was only the first time she was noticing the huge _rock _on her ring finger, as it gleamed beneath the fluorescent lights of her hospital room. Bonnie could barely breathe as she stared at it, trying to revive herself of the memory of when _that _happened, but her mind continued to draw blanks.

She remembered Caroline, Elena, her family, and even her job, as the Senior Art Director at the top publishing company in Virginia. But this ring on her finger—the one that indicated that he was _much _closer to her than she had imagined—she didn't know a thing about it, at all.

"Are we—" Bonnie trailed off, as her mint green eyes studied the breathtaking stone that was so securely attached to the platinum band, and her mind spun.

She didn't even have the impudence to finish her sentence.

Damon's indigo eyes flashed to hers, as he seemed to be pretty breathless himself, before he nodded in confirmation; thoroughly striking each bit of flammable anguish that sat beneath her soul, as if he had a match right between his fingertips.

"We're… married, Bonnie," Damon said slowly, and her stomach flipped as he inhaled a deep breath, and examined her eyes, just as someone would look into their partners soul. "I'm your _husband._"

Bonnie opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out.

Instead, she felt her world go dizzy and her mind completely numb, as the last thing she saw was his turbulent gaze before her vision completely faded to black.

* * *

**A/N: Hello, all! So I REALLY shouldn't be starting another fic (screw that I do what I want LOL) but with Sweeter than Heaven, Hotter than Hell coming to a close very soon, and this idea being circulated in the Bamon tag on Tumblr at least twice, I decided to just go for it because I love writing, haha **** This fic is clearly AU as well as AH, and some of you may recognize the premise from a movie and book titled "The Vow." A lovely Bamon fan made a video on Youtube going along with this idea, and Bonnie and Damon as the main characters, and it was basically SCREAMING to be written into fanfiction. I haven't checked to see if it already exists (if so I apologize if it is. If not, yay!) but I thought it was an awesome idea so that's that. I haven't decided yet how much of the book/movie I will use for my inspiration or which other characters I will be introducing, however, it'll be fun to write this one! I hope you are all excited to read this because I am excited to write this! It'll be sad and tragic at some points, but hopefully funny and heartwarming at others, so I hope that'll be enough. Read and review with your thoughts! They are always greatly appreciated. Until next time! xo **


	2. Hanging On

"_Bonnie? Hey, can you hear me? It's me—Dr. Fell."_

Bonnie's eyes fluttered open and she slowly regained her vision, as she met the familiar gaze of the young brunette before her. She attempted to sit up and Meredith caught her hands in an effort to ease her back down.

Bonnie breathed.

Her head was pounding, and her heart was racing. But the only thing on her mind was the blaring question that sat on her tongue, the minute her eyes met those of the man across the room who was gawking at her with a world of hurt beyond his stare.

She swallowed hard when he moved in towards her, and Bonnie shook her head furiously as she pressed her lips together.

"Bonnie—"he started, and she pushed her back against her bed.

"Who are you?" she asked, with a bit of terror behind her voice. _"Who are you?"_

"I'm your _husband, _Bonnie," he replied, and she shook her head again. "My name is Damon."

"I'm not married," she said firmly, as she looked down at the ring on her finger and tightened her jaw. "I don't even _know _you!" she yelled, as she pinched her fingers around the jewelry and yanked it off. "I _don't _want your ring."

Before he could say a word, she heaved it in his direction, faster than the speed of light. Damon caught the platinum ring before it hit the ground, but his face hardened the minute he looked back up at her.

"Bonnie; I need you to calm down. Please," Meredith said soothingly, but that only frightened Bonnie even more, as the man seemed to be moving in closer, and with a strong look of determination in his eyes. "Damon—I think you need to go—"

"I'm not leaving without her," he shot back, before his ice blue orbs penetrated Bonnie's again. "Bonnie—please; you _have _to remember this. You have to remember _me_."

"Get away from me," Bonnie said strongly, before looking back at Meredith. "Get him away from me!"

The doctor was immediately to her feet, and stood in front of Damon, with a pressing look in her eyes.

It didn't comfort him at all.

"Damon," she said in a softer tone, though his stare was comparable to daggers. "I need you to _leave. _Maybe go to the waiting room, take a walk—anything. I just _can't _have you here while she feels threatened by you."

Damon let out a scoff as he pinched the bridge of his nose, as shook his head.

"She is my _wife, _Doctor. I have all of the paperwork to prove it. I have _this _to prove it!" Damon said, as he held up the ring and narrowed his eyes. "We've been married for _three years!_" he yelled, and Meredith sighed.

"But she doesn't remember you," Meredith replied, as she watched his anger being to boil. "And until I can figure out _why, _you can't be here if she feels _unsafe _around you."

"So, are you telling me that you underestimated her injuries? Because _you _said she would be okay, and she clearly _isn't_! She doesn't remember anything!"

"She doesn't remember _you,_" Meredith clarified, and his jaw ticked. "Your wife suffered from a mild concussion, Mr. Salvatore— what Bonnie is experiencing may very well be a result of that; maybe not. None of Bonnie's tests indicated severe brain trauma or damage, but typically, when patients are recovering from their injuries after an accident, they may momentarily lapse out, fall asleep, or forget things known to them without much notice at all."

"So, what do I do? How do I fix this?" he asked, and Meredith sighed as she looked into his eyes.

"For now, I need you to go," she said firmly, and Damon tightened his fist around Bonnie's ring. "I'm going to run these tests again, and have Bonnie speak to Dr. Elijah Mikaelson; he's a psychologist, here, and he may be able to tell us if something is wrong."

Damon didn't say anything as he looked at Bonnie, who was still shaking on her bed, and then back at Dr. Fell, who had a dire look on her face. He quite literally felt sick to his stomach.

"Fix this," Damon said in a low tone, as he stared at Dr. Fell. "Get my wife back."

"I'm going to do my best, Damon," she replied, as he tugged at his lip with his teeth. "For now—"

"Yeah, 'scram;' got the memo," he said bitterly, as he glanced at Bonnie once more, before turning on his foot and walking away.

When he locked the door behind him, he had to fight the urge to punch a hole straight through the wall.

Bonnie watched as Dr. Fell let out a soft breath before turning to face her, with a hopeful smile. She didn't dare return it, as the woman walked over to her clipboard, and finally took a seat at her bedside.

Bonnie shifted uncomfortably.

"I'm going to run a few more tests on your brain, Bonnie, to see if perhaps there was an oversight with any of the CT scans we performed before… But I can tell you right now, besides your slight concussion, everything came back fine. Which means… we may be dealing with another issue, here; one that _isn't _exactly in my forte, so bear with me if these questions seem a bit…_frank,_" Meredith said honestly, and Bonnie gulped. "Bonnie, are there any… domestic disputes between you and Damon that we should know about? Something you're not telling us?"

Bonnie's eyebrows furrowed and she shook her head.

"Are you sure? Because if he's abused you, Bonnie—mentally or _physically_—"

"I—I don't _know _him at all, Dr. Fell. I'm not covering up or just trying to get back at him, or something. I just—I _don't _know who he is," she replied honestly.

Bonnie watched as Meredith's expression became one of stone, and there was suddenly a feeling of deep despair rising in her stomach.

_What the hell did that look mean?_

"What?" Bonnie asked, as she studied Dr. Fell, who was now suddenly serious as she continued to watch her.

The doctor clasped her hands together, and pursed her lips before opening up her mouth to talk, finally.

"I'm going to call Dr. Mikaelson. He's going to want to ask you a few questions, okay, Bonnie?"

Bonnie nodded as Dr. Fell rose to her feet, and pulled out her pager. Bonnie's skin tingled as she listened to the persistent beat of her heart monitor, and eyed the fluids making their way into her bloodstream, via I.V.

This entire situation was freaking her out, if she were honest. Had she really had _one _aspect of her life—a _husband, _at that—that she had so woefully forgotten? How did that even happen?

_Why _did it happen?

Bonnie's thoughts were broken when the hospital door opened, and a handsome male in his early thirties made his way in, with a gentle smile cascading over his pale lips.

The genuine optimism in his eyes calmed her for a second, as Dr. Fell rose to her feet, and greeted the man graciously. He gave her a gentle pat on the back as she walked away, and he cleared his throat when Bonnie's eyes met his.

He extended a hand.

"Hello, Bonnie, my name is Dr. Mikaelson, but please—call me Elijah," he said, with the hint of some type of exotic accent behind his brooding frame. She shook his hand carefully, and nodded as he pulled up a seat beside her. "Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?"

Bonnie sighed before shrugging her shoulders, and crossing her arms over herself.

"No," she said lightly, as she peered cautiously into his chestnut eyes. "Just as long as you promise not to treat me like I'm crazy."

Elijah chuckled as he opened his hands and placed them comfortably on his lap. His eyes gleamed, once more.

"You're not crazy; 'crazy' isn't a word we use around here," he said gently, as Bonnie watched him. "You were in a very bad car accident, and I am told it may have triggered some memory loss. Is that true?"

Bonnie nodded as she hugged herself even tighter, and Elijah continued to stare at her.

"Bonnie—I need you to tell me everything that you remember; about your life and the people in it."

Bonnie chewed at her lip, and cleared her throat as she looked into his eyes.

"I… was born here; in Mystic Falls, Virginia, to my parents Rudy and Abby Bennett. They got divorced when I was five, and I was never really close with either of them… I chose to stay here, even though my Dad moved to California as soon as I was old enough to take care of myself, and I haven't seen Abby in fifteen years... My Grams raised me, mostly, before she died," Bonnie rehashed, and Elijah nodded as she listened. I have a job, as the Creative Art Director at the Red Leaf Publishing Company, and I really enjoy it—it's what I've always wanted to do, with my life…" she smiled, and Elijah smiled back, with encouragement.

"Anything else?" he asked, and Bonnie nodded, as she finally dropped her hands and became a bit more comfortable with the stranger.

"My best girlfriends; Elena and Caroline—I love them to death. I don't know what I'd do without them, and I'm really happy they're here for me-especially after the accident… I have another really good friend; he's a guy. We've been friends since we went to college together. He even moved to Mystic Falls and we still are really close… His name is Stefan Salvat—"she suddenly stopped, and her eyes widened.

Elijah sat up instinctively, and his brows furrowed as she looked at him anxiously.

"Bonnie, is everything alright?"

She shook her head and pressed her hands to her mouth in a bit of awe before she looked at him again. Elijah's concern was now through the roof.

"Salvatore," she said so softly, it almost didn't sound audible. "Stefan's last name is Salvatore; _Damon's _last name is Salvatore," she connected.

Were they related? How had she not realized that before?

"Damon; the man who says he's your husband—do you remember him, now?" Elijah asked hopefully, and Bonnie tucked a strand behind her ear, and tilted her head softly.

Bonnie's eyes met the ground before she looked to him again, and parted her lips.

"I—I don't remember him. _At all._"

XXXXX

"Damon, relax," Elena said, as the man paced back and forth before her; fanatically checking his watch, and grumbling habitually at the passed time. "Damon—"she eased.

"How the _hell _am I supposed to relax when my own _wife _just got into a _car accident _and has _no _idea who the fuck I am?" he asked brashly, and Elena glanced apologetically at the family with the two-year old and six-year old beside them in the waiting room, before looking back up at Damon.

"There are _children _here; watch your language," she said between tight teeth, and Damon scoffed.

"They've heard worse on _XBOX Live_," he shot back, as he continued to pace.

Elena shook her head as she folded her hands, and looked around for Caroline, who disappeared to get a "snack from the vending machine," over a half hour ago. If she didn't know any better, she'd say the girl was _actually _trying to find herself a cute doctor to wed.

Since Bonnie and Damon had married, the girl had viciously become obsessed with the idea of planning a wedding of her own after damn near arranging theirs. And with Bonnie _still _undergoing tests and a chat with the house psychologist, Caroline figured she'd have the time to wander.

Elena couldn't blame her; waiting rooms sucked. Being stuck in one with a rabid Damon Salvatore was even worse.

She cringed at her misfortune.

"This is my fault," Damon said, for the umpteenth time, and Elena sighed. "I called her—I was drunk and I was fighting with her. She was trying to calm me down."

"But you guys always fight, Damon," Elena reasoned, as he continued to walk back and forth. "And it's never anything that a little quality time can't fix," she added, and he snorted, as he stopped in his tracks. "You've been gone on business—maybe you just miss each other—"

"It was different this time, Elena," he said seriously, as his eyes met her own. "She wanted a _divorce. _She _emailed me _about a _divorce_! That isn't your 'run-of-the-mill' type of fight. It's kind of _permanent,_" Damon spat, and Elena shifted in her seat, but didn't say a word. His jaw ticked. "You knew—didn't you?" he asked, in a much quieter tone. "You knew she wanted a divorce?"

Before Elena could respond, she looked up and beyond him, to see a familiar face making its way into the waiting room, as he glanced around before setting his gaze on her.

He smiled hopefully.

As if this entire thing weren't uncomfortable enough, here _he _was; the guy she hadn't been so good at avoiding, no matter how hard she tried.

"Your brother's here," Elena said mutely, as she rose to her feet, and Damon breathed out a sigh as he spun around to see Stefan Salvatore approaching him. Almost supersonically, Stefan was in front of him, with his arms around his brother for a hug.

Stefan hadn't hugged him since his wedding day.

"I left Vermont as soon as I got the message," Stefan said as he pulled out of the embrace, but held onto his shoulders. "Please tell me I'm not too late."

"You're not," Damon answered, already feeling guilty for cutting his brother's vacation short. "I just flew in from Dubai, Dad is stuck in New York so he won't be here until tomorrow, and Bonnie's parents… I called Abby at the number I got from 411, but disconnected. Rudy might as well have not even answered—I don't think he's coming to see her."

Stefan frowned.

"How are you, Damon?"

Damon licked his teeth as he looked into Stefan's green orbs and shrugged.

"Do you really wanna know, brother?"

"Yeah—yeah I do, Damon," Stefan said almost immediately. "What'd they say? She's gonna be fine, right?"

When Damon didn't answer, Stefan finally turned to face Elena, who was mirroring his own look of concern, before she crossed her arms over her chest, and opened her mouth to speak. She was interrupted when Caroline walked back in, with a coffee in her hand and a jovial smile on her face. Her eyes immediately lit up when she saw Stefan, but then darkened almost as quickly when she watched air of discomfort between the guys and Elena. He and Elena, especially.

She poised herself.

"Hey Stefan," Caroline said as she gave him an affectionate kiss on the cheek, before facing her best friend, and then Damon, as well. "What I'd miss besides Damon pacing? Anything?"

"No, they were just filling me in," Stefan said, as he watched Elena, and her lips pursed. "So, Bonnie's okay, right?" he asked again, and Elena nodded, as she tucked her hair behind her ear.

"She's… fine, physically. But they… She's experiencing some memory loss, they think."

Stefan's eyes widened, and before he could ask any more, Dr. Fell and Dr. Mikaelson were already approaching them. With even looks on their faces, and certain heaviness in their stares, Damon breathed in deeply, and clenched his trembling fingers.

Damon was a sure person; he always had been. He'd been so confident in himself, his life, his choices, and yes, even his marriage. He prided himself on the fact that he could make decisions—and fast—and there was little anyone could do to stop him from getting what he wanted.

So, it was the equivalent of a nightmare being in this situation, he realized. He _hated _uncertainty. He _despised _indecision and insecurity. His stomach literally _turned _just thinking about how unpredictable this all was, and just how awful it felt not to be in control of his own destiny.

When Dr. Mikaelson's eyes met his, Damon stiffened his eyes before turning to face Dr. Fell, who looked just as meager.

He loosened his hands when the woman's voice traveled through his abdomen, chest, neck, and straight into his ears; and of course, they were the few words he _definitely _did not want to hear.

"I'm afraid I have some bad news about your wife, Bonnie."

XXXXX

"_I didn't realize you were such a good cook; I'd always assumed your only talent was pouring a glass of Bourbon," Bonnie said, as she leaned against the counter, and Damon snorted._

" _Are you giving me a compliment? I thought you didn't 'do that,'" Damon smirked, and Bonnie bit back a smile as she watched him the garlic for his tomato sauce, before looking back into his eyes._

"_I did say that; yes… But I also thought you deserved one, for a change. Especially after you rushed all the way here to feed me after I nearly lit my apartment on fire, trying to microwave some soup," she said._

"_Well," Damon started, as he continued to chop, before he finally tossed the ingredients into the simmering pot, and turned to face her, "You _know _that's not the only thing I can feed you," he winked._

_Bonnie let out a faux heave, as Damon laughed heartily, with glimmering blue eyes. She shook her head in dissatisfaction, before she folded her arms._

"That _is why I don't give you compliments; you're disgusting," she said, and Damon rolled his eyes, as he finally covered the pot, washed his hands, and dried them routinely._

"_You love it," he stated, and she sneered. "Just admit it, Bon. You wouldn't keep seeing me if you didn't. I actually think you got the fire department here on _purpose _just so you could text me about it. You know my weakness."_

"_Your 'weakness?' And what would that be?"_

"_You—you know it's you."_

"_You…never stop with the flattery, do you?" she asked pressingly, and Damon pursed his lips, though she saw the makings of a grin hiding right beyond his eyes._

"_I figured it was worth a shot. Again. Who knows—you might take the bait, one day."_

_Bonnie scoffed as she wrapped her long brown hair into a messy bun, and Damon's eyes followed the muscle in her arms stretch so effortlessly._

_He'd found it interesting that she hadn't changed yet out of her yoga pants once she found out he was on his way. He'd literally been "seeing" this girl for three months, and he had yet to see her without any make-up, dressy clothes on, or even worse; her hair done. She just hadn't been that comfortable with him, he believed._

_But now, as they stood on the tiled ground in her mid-sized kitchen, he realized that she must not have cared about that sort of stuff, anymore. And that was a huge step for her—for them, both—whether she was willing to admit that this was "something," or not._

_The first time he met Bonnie was at his father's engagement party, at a fancy five-star hotel suite, in New York City._

_He didn't know Bonnie, himself, but she was apparently a good friend of his Stefan's; one of the "good ones" that he had met at Oberlin, and the two had been tight ever since. After graduating, Stefan moved out of he and Damon's penthouse and to Mystic Falls, Virginia—where Bonnie just so happened to live, after finding a job as an English teacher at Mystic Falls High School, much to their father's dismay._

_He'd believed he'd groomed Stefan to be the perfect fit to take over his law firm when he graduated, but his brother had no such interest. He'd insisted that he wanted to be a teacher—"even if he'd make no money—"because he wanted to be _happy_; and he was convinced that happiness, for him, could not be found in the big city. _

_And that was when he left._

_Damon always suspected there was more to the relationship with Bonnie, despite the fact that he'd never known her. _

_What guy in his right mind would pick up and leave New York Fucking City to go live in some Podunk town, because of some girl that he knew?_

_Damon didn't believe that things with Bonnie were platonic; and the minute he laid eyes on her, in that pink, Lanvin swing dress, he really hoped that Stefan wasn't a liar, and he wasn't screwing this girl six ways to Sunday—because she was hot._

_Really, really, hot._

_Her toned, caramel-flavored legs seemed to stretch on for days, though she was very petite in size—and he couldn't help himself from tracing the curve of her hips as she walked towards him. Her long brown hair was side-swept into a delicate ponytail, and her extensive lashes seemed to hypnotize him each time he blinked._

_And her lips? He didn't even want to explain where he actually wanted those to be._

_Damon remembered wiping the champagne—or drool— off the corner of his mouth, as his brother approached him with a complacent smile, and introduced the two, as if it had been his most difficult task all day._

_Turns out, Stefan—appropriately—warned Bonnie that Damon was a bit of an asshole. He'd even prepped her that Damon was even worse when he was drunk._

_Which he was; he _definitely _was._

_Damon recalled as he extended his hand to Bonnie's, and the girl smiled demurely as she shook it; carefully tracing his eyes, and making it vaguely obvious that she thought he was ridiculously attractive, too. _

_Stefan rolled his eyes as he walked away and left the two to their own devices. He immediately knew the two would be drawn to each other—or they would clash, heavily—and he'd already warned Damon that Bonnie was a good friend, so he wasn't to screw around with her, like he did all his 24-hour conquests._

_Better yet, Bonnie wouldn't _allow _it. And the quicker he knew that, the better. Damon, however, didn't get the memo, and it only took a record time of six minutes before he and Bonnie were debating about something, and he immediately knew why Stefan _wasn't _dating this girl: she was way too feisty, for him._

_His brother—god bless him—was a boring old English teacher, who idolized John Green, and quoted Hemingway like it was nobody's business. He was definitely more into the girl-next-door types; the ones who knitted quilts, listened to Coldplay, and had this sublime virginal and wholesome thing about them that made guys giggle, and parents swoon._

_Yeah—Bonnie was _not that_._

_She was a spitfire, to put it simply. She was smart, fiery, bold, and brave, as she challenged every single thing he said about politics, sports, music, and even books. And she was making it clear that she thought his attractiveness was as short-lived as a Vegas-style wedding. _

_Bonnie even had the nerve to say that she knew why Stefan wanted her to forgive him in advance for introducing her to him. When Damon asked why, she was blunt; she told him that he wasn't exactly the most _pleasant _of creatures—though he was pleasant to look at—once he opened his mouth. In fact—everything he said irritated Bonnie, to the point that she considered smashing his head in with her Michael Kors designer bag; the one she spent way too much money on, anyway._

_To put it simply, she thought Damon Salvatore was an asshole; in the _biggest _way. _

_Damon was floored, to be honest, that this woman that he barely knew not only _wasn't _dripping at his each and every word, but she'd also already formulated her opinion about him in her mind; and it was that she couldn't _stand _him._

_When Giuseppe Salvatore came over to introduce himself to his youngest son's friend, Damon he not only praised Bonnie for putting his son in his place, but also for being such a great friend to Stefan, when he was in need of one._

_Damon didn't know what that was about, then, and he didn't ask. He was just too drunk and too annoyed at the fact that Bonnie believed that she had him so figured out, already._

_The fact that he was already an International Accountant at the tender age of 24, and he'd seen the world fifteen times over?_

_She wasn't interested._

_The fact that he spoke four languages, and could play any Mozart piece you threw at him, with his eyes closed?_

_She yawned._

_So, when the party ended, and he retreated back to his hotel room _without _the company of that hot redhead who'd wanted a piece since the moment he walked in, he knew something—he had a crush on Bonnie—a real one,-and he wouldn't rest until he got her to give him another chance._

_No girl had made him feel the way that she did before, and even if she was tearing him down limb for limb, he secretly enjoyed it. He enjoyed _her; _and he wasn't going to give up on this conquest, if it were the last thing he'd do._

_He wasn't used to having girls who didn't want him—and that made Bonnie all the more of a challenge. She was confident, intelligent, and gorgeous, to boot. He'd only ever dealt with trust fund babies with two of those qualities, but never the whole package._

_He figured it was time to broaden his horizons. He knew it was time to take a chance._

_His first life-altering move? Relocating from New York to Mystic Falls, where he would work out of Richmond at his companies much smaller—but still very efficient—accounting office. When he told his brother that he actually signed the deed to his own house just a few blocks away from him, Stefan nearly choked on his coffee._

_The two got along, but had never been "close" by any means, and if Damon was moving here, it meant he was up to something. And the minute Damon casually mentioned _her _he knew what this was all about._

_Damon was smitten with Bonnie._

_And the first thing he wanted to do? Take her on a date, obviously. He'd disclosed to Stefan his interest in his friend, and even after his brother told him he'd have no chance, he did his best into talking her to give his stupid douchebag brother a shot; even if it were with her Daddy's rifle. _

_Bonnie almost refused of course, citing the reason that he was just horrible in general. She didn't want anything to do with a 24 year old, so-called playboy who had his head so far up his own ass he probably thought the sun was shining through it. But after much texting, persuading, relentlessness and—yes—even some slight begging, she agreed to meet Damon for coffee._

_She didn't promise not to scald him with it if he got out of line, though._

_Damon's mind fast-forwarded to the actual "date," and he grinned when he remembered it._

_In his opinion, they "hit it off" really well, even though Bonnie only really remembered wanting to hit the douche bag, repeatedly, with a wooden spoon. _

_She regretted it the moment she set eyes on him, because she was instantly reminded of just how _good-looking _he was. And that annoyed her; because annoying people like Damon _shouldn't _have been attractive, she reasoned._

_They should look like lepers._

_They also shouldn't have been smart and funny—which Damon was—with such a refreshing sense of charisma and character that could carry them for days. She really didn't want to admit it—especially not on their first "date," either—but Damon was everything she had been looking for in a man._

_And then some._

_A first date turned into a second, which jumped to a fifth, and easily a twentieth. _

_From breakfast to dinner, to movies to dancing—he'd gotten Bonnie to join him for them all. And before he knew it, he'd gotten to her; he'd actually say that he was _dating _Bonnie Bennett. _

_She laughed—begrudgingly—at the things that came out of his mouth, and he easily wowed her with his the things that _weren't _flashy about him. Like, the fact that he still drove the old Chevy Camaro that his grandfather gave him when he passed on, even though she knew he was rich enough to buy five Maseratis, if he wanted to. Damon's favorite pastime was cooking, because his mother taught him all of her favorite recipes before she died, and he hadn't told anyone this—not even Stefan—but he visited her grave, every so often, to thank her for leaving him with something he could use for the rest of his life._

_As Damon suddenly felt shy spilling about all of the gory details about the lamer details of his life, the first time they sat beneath the stars on his porch swing, he watched Bonnie's reluctant smile getting bigger and bigger, until finally, she was touching his hand, and his own were firmly wrapped around hers._

_He wanted to kiss her then, but she didn't let him—she still hadn't, actually. A part of him bought the excuse about her "wanting to keep this simple," but the other half of him knew better._

_She realized that she might have fallen for the devil, himself. And he fell for her; much harder than he had fallen for anyone, in his entire life._

_They were at the start of something huge._

_Damon sighed when he looked up into her forest green eyes, and snapped out of his thoughts. Bonnie coughed and looked away from his crystal blue eyes—the one's that constantly tried to draw her into this idea that they were "good together" and whatever they were doing could work, if she just got over herself and admitted that she liked him._

_Because she did; she liked him, a lot._

"_What makes you so sure I wanted you to come over?" she asked, as she cocked her head. "I mean—you do invite yourself here, half of the time anyway. Would it really make a difference if I _didn't _text you?"_

_Damon walked in towards her, and he felt the moment when Bonnie finally remembered to breathe as his hand landed on her own, and his thumb grazed her skin, ever-so-lightly. Her face remained hardened, though, as she refused to drop her front._

_She refused to lose to him._

"_Only if I didn't believe you actually wanted me here," he said smoothly, and Bonnie didn't reply. "But you do, right? You do…want… me?" Damon asked softly._

"_We've been over this, Damon. I don't _do _complicated."_

"_And I don't believe you."_

_Bonnie opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. _

_Damon knew her like the back of his hand, already, and it was completely nerve-wracking, for her, he noticed. Since the moment he'd met Bonnie, she had some weird wall up, and he couldn't quite get past it no matter how hard he tried. The girl hadn't even _let _him kiss her yet; despite the fact that they always came so close, when they were alone._

_He imagined it was because they probably wouldn't stop once they got started; he was sure that they wouldn't. The tension between them was just too hot to be put out with _one _kiss._

_If she gave in and let him kiss her, it'd be an all-night affair. And, well? He could last all-night, if she wanted him to._

"_I think the food is ready," she said, changing the subject, as she attempted to pull away, but Damon blocked her in—up against the counter—and her face made the indication that her stomach just flipped._

_Damon silently took joy in the fact that he was within the throes of the most confident woman he had ever known, yet, she was the one shaking in her boots._

_How did that even happen?_

"_I think we've already established that you don't know how to cook. Leave dinner to me," he said, and Bonnie scoffed, but didn't reply. He was right after all, anyway. "About me and you—"_

"_There is no me and you," Bonnie cut in, and he rolled his eyes. "I just—we're friends, sort of. We're—being friends."_

"_Friends often get…friendly," Damon said and her eyes widened. "It's not a crime."_

"_Is that what you want? Just to sleep with me?" she asked, and Damon bit his lip and folded his arms._

"_I wouldn't say the idea hasn't crossed my mind," he replied honestly. "But no; that's not _all _I want, Bonnie. I—I want you to admit that you like me; just as much as I like you. I want you to admit that… I make you laugh and smile and question things—because I do. I see it in your eyes, and you know what? I love that feeling; and I know that you do, too."_

"_So what should I say? Huh?" she asked suddenly, with a hint of fire rising in her voice. "That I was maybe wrong when I met you? That I shouldn't have judged you? That I—"_

"_Want to kiss you?" he asked, as he stepped in and she gulped." Because Lord knows I've waited long enough," he said._

_Damon listened as Bonnie sucked in a cruel amount of air, and folded her arms across her chest. He waited, quietly, as she looked everywhere but his eyes, before they made contact again and she exhaled._

_Damon didn't budge._

"_I have trust issues," she said, and Damon snorted._

"_Who doesn't? Is that supposed to scare me?"_

"_No," she said. "But it is a warning; a warning of what you're getting yourself into…" she said, as she began to toy with the ring on her middle finger. "I… have a strong front, Damon; I really do. But when I fall hard, I just—I'm vulnerable. And because I don't _like _feeling that way I—"_

"_Run the other way," he filled in, and she blinked silently, but with confirmation._

_She was a runner. If she couldn't fix something, she left it die. He knew her type well, and as much as they bothered him, they never _frightened _him. He was prepared to take her on._

"_And you get bored," she said suddenly, as his brows furrowed. "I know your nature, Damon; you're the kind of guy who wants something until he has it, and then when he does—he's onto the next best thing. Now, do you think it'd be a wise plan for me to fall for you?" she asked austerely._

_Damon licked his tongue across his lips, and watched as Bonnie's eyes pierced through his, the moment he placed an atoned hand to her cheek. Bonnie stood frozen as his skin grazed her jaw, down to her neck, and Damon's eyes followed the trail of his finger, right back up to her gaze._

_It was smoldering._

"_No, Bonnie, it wouldn't be wise," he said, as she swallowed hard and pressed her lips to a thin line. "But something tells me you already _have_… And fate doesn't care about plans. So to hell with what you _shouldn't _do, and just _do it, _already, if you want to," Damon added in a soft whisper. "And I _know _that you want to."_

_Bonnie glared at him, as though she saw the entire world in his eyes, and it was Damon's turn for his stomach to bounce, while her gaze never faltered. He breathed in when Bonnie's hands slowly landed on his chest, and she smoothed her fingers over his black t-shirt; feeling the fabric beneath her hands—but most importantly—the heat of his skin beneath that. _

_It was like she was exploring him, he realized, as those same hands hesitantly slid under his shirt, now, and coursed over his toned abdominals, like she was reading Braille. Damon wanted to smile, but he realized he didn't have the courage to, actually, as she was silently figuring him out, this way._

_He was nervous—more anxious than he had ever been—and it wasn't until Bonnie's hands moved down to his waist and positively pulled him in that he knew something; that she was ready to let down her defenses._

_She was ready for him to move past the armory that guarded her heart._

_And he was ready too._

_Damon leaned down, and Bonnie chewed her lip when his forehead met his. Her grip flirted between the tail of his shirt, and the waist of his pants, but he didn't seem to mind, as his actions mirrored her own, almost immediately._

_Bonnie shut her eyes and attempted to breathe, as the sweet trace of his cologne subverted her senses, and forced her eyes back open. Damon didn't say anything as her hands smoothed over his dark denim jeans, and rested in his back pockets. _

"_I haven't—"she started but stopped, when his inquisitive eyes drowned her. "It's been a while," Bonnie finished and Damon smiled purely at that._

"_We better get you warmed up, then, Bennett."_

_Bonnie let out a mini yelp when Damon unexpectedly lifted her off of her feet, and planted her square on the counter, as her legs dangled, before slowly tightening around his torso. She did her best to hide the shock in her gaze, but she failed; he was already grinning like an idiot, and she hated it._

_She hated how perfect someone could be, when you least expected it._

"_So?" he said gently, as his hands gripped her thighs, and her heart began beating so fast, he could _hear _it through her shirt. "What's it gonna be—"_

_His speech was cut off when Bonnie's lips landed against his; causing a flurry of emotion and energy in Damon's soul, that he had never experienced before._

_There was kissing and then there was _kissing; _and what Bonnie was doing to him was the latter of the two, as she used her legs muscles to draw him in, and her hands to keep him there. Her mouth was putting his to work, and he couldn't say be blamed her for it; she'd built up three months' worth of sexual frustration before this moment, as did he._

_They literally only hugged before this—had he really thought this would be gentle?_

Of-fucking-course not.

_Damon had her in his arms, again, and he held her there as he walked her to the table and pushed a few things out of their way. Bonnie loosely showed some concern, before she was right back to dealing with better things; like pulling him on top of her, and biting down so hard on his lip, he was going to have to tell people he got mugged because he was 99% sure she he was now bruised._

_Bonnie hungrily kissed at his lips and sucked at his tongue, while Damon had to pin her down long enough at the shoulders to pull up her tank top, and press his mouth to her neck. Her hands traveled beneath his shirt, and Damon groaned a bit when her fingers pinched his skin._

_He liked to play rough; but he had a feeling she was rougher._

_And to be honest, that wasn't what he wanted with her. At least not yet, anyway._

_Damon suddenly separated his lips, and he was met with the sounds of Bonnie's erratic breathing as she looked up at him, and raised a brow. Damon swiped his hand across his puffy lip._

_It stung quite a bit, but he was okay with that. She was definitely worth it._

"_What?" she asked, and he didn't say a thing, yet, as his eyes followed her impeccable green orbs for a minute. _

_Bonnie was beautiful—so goddamn gorgeous—and he wanted to treat her that way, the first time this happened; not like one of his typical ragdolls that he used, abused, and tossed away like yesterday's newspaper._

_No; Bonnie deserved more. She deserved the very best he could give her. And he didn't want to give her anything less._

_Damon slid off of her and the table, and helped Bonnie to sit up, as he guided her hands. Without a word, he pulled her to her feet, and backed up as she slowly walked with him._

"_Where are we going?" she asked, as he turned off the sauce, pasta, and chicken in the oven, before moving out of the kitchen, with her hands in his own._

"_I don't know—you live here," he winked, and Bonnie rolled her eyes, but a small smirk reached her lips._

_He could be a real ass sometimes, he noted. _

_They were in Bonnie's room, with the door shut behind them, about thirty seconds later, and Bonnie inhaled as Damon walked over to her queen size bed—waiting for her to join him._

_Bonnie did, finally, and the moment she sat down, Damon turned to face her with a serious look in his eyes. She remained silent as he took her hand into his own, and interlocked their fingers accordingly._

_She never dropped her stare._

"_I've… had sex that way," he admitted, but to his chagrin. "Too many times, and I—I just want something… slow, for once. I just want something that'll still be here when the night's over… With someone who matters—like you."_

_Bonnie pursed her lips, and sat up straighter as she glanced at him out of the corner of her cat-like eyes._

"_What makes you think I'll be slow?" she asked, finally turning to face him completely. "I did do _that_ to your lip," Bonnie added, as she grazed her thumb along his mouth, and he caught her hand slowly._

_Bonnie only stared him down when he lowered his hand to the space between them._

"_Call me crazy, but I think so because it's what you want, too," he said assuredly. "We…_both _want _more._"_

_Bonnie didn't answer his words as he leaned in, and everything seemed to stop around her. His mouth pressed to hers, this time, and he felt Bonnie clench onto his cheeks with both hands the moment he kissed her. _

_Her kiss was on fire._

_They continued for a few more minutes; maybe even an hour—he lost track of time, honestly—just kissing and caressing, without doing anything else._

_She'd taken his shirt off at some point, but only to admire his chest, and her fingertips grazed his ribs with such gentle precision._

_Bonnie sighed when she landed on top of him, and from there, everything just felt so easy, and relaxed—so natural._

_As he slid off her pants and then his own, Damon couldn't help but admire the sculpt of her body, before pulling the blankets around them._

_He'd felt the goosebumps on her skin._

"_Hey," Damon said between kisses, and Bonnie looked down at him, as her messy bun was now completely loose, and her brown locks tumbled over her shoulders. Her pushed them aside and looked into her eyes. "I remembered to turn off your stove, right? Because it would be slightly counterproductive if I came here to cook for you because you nearly burned the joint down and then I did the _same _exact thing."_

_Damon watched as Bonnie's nude lips formed into huge smile, and he was instantly mesmerized by the glow in her eyes as she sat straddled at his waist. Her fingers combed through his hair before she responded._

"_I thought you were the expert."_

"_The expert has O.C.D tendencies," he replied, and Bonnie rolled her eyes juts before planting another warm kiss on his lips, and whispering into his ear._

"_The only thing you've left 'turned on' is _me. _Now, get to work," she said, as Damon's eyebrows shot up in surprise and then amusement._

_He flipped Bonnie's body beneath him, and she moaned when he placed his hands to her chest, and his fingers trailed her skin._

"_You're gonna be sorry you asked for it."_

"Damon?... Are you awake?"

Damon's blue eyes opened carefully to meet the pitch black room—squinting the moment they encountered the bright hallway light that streamed in easily.

He sealed them shut for a moment, in an effort to readjust, before he blinked a few times, and his subject came into view.

He sat up in his bed, and breathed softly as her green eyes matched his, in a mixture of tiredness and uncertainty. Damon yawned and shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm awake now," he said, almost bitterly, as he recalled the dream he was having, and how she'd so rudely interrupted it.

He figured it was his fault, anyway. Why even bother to dream about the way things _were _when this is what he was _faced _with, now; a wife who didn't know who the hell he was, and had seemingly "forced" him out of her memory, according to all that medical mumbo-jumbo Dr. Mikaelson cited when he told Damon what'd happened to Bonnie.

Damon's tongue itched as he recalled his time at the hospital last night, when Dr. Mikaelson pulled him into his office, and delivered the bad news; the news that he seemingly was the one Bonnie wanted to forget, and so she'd made it happen, through her very own brand of psychosis.

"_Psychogenic Amnesia," Dr. Mikaelson said, as Damon stared at him wide-eyed, without a lick of understanding what that meant. "Bonnie is suffering from Psychogenic Amnesia; a memory disorder characterized by sudden retrograde autobiographical memory loss."_

"_So, she's just 'forgotten' a bunch of shit, is what you're telling me?" Damon asked, and Dr. Mikaelson sighed._

"_It's… much more complicated than that. Patients who suffer from Psychogenic Amnesia often have the inability to recall personal information about themselves or someone very important in their lives—just as Bonnie cannot seem to remember you; her husband."_

_Damon swallowed as he stared into his chocolate brown eyes, afraid to even ask his next question._

"_And what's the reason for that? Is it by chance?"_

"_I'm… afraid not, Damon," Dr. Mikaelson replied, as he licked his teeth. "The… reason is usually of a traumatic or stressful nature. Bonnie's relationship, with you, _must _have taken some sort of a toll on her, mentally. There have been no signs of physical damage to her brain therefore we're dealing with something much more… elusive."_

_Damon took in a deep breath and shook his head as he watched him. This couldn't be happening._

"_She loved me—she still loves me," he said, with trepidation beyond his eyes. "I don't know what I did—"_

"_Deep down, I think that you do… Bonnie's memories, Damon, may _never _come back—she might not _ever _remember who you are and what your relationship meant to her. But… there is a chance that they can—they can if her psyche feels safe enough to let down the barricades it has built, to find a way to let you back in," Dr. Mikaelson interrupted, as Damon took in a long sigh breath. "And luckily enough for you, Bonnie wants to figure out a way to work this thing out… She _wants _to remember what you had, if it is possible."_

_Damon sat there, mindlessly numb as he shook his head._

_She _wanted _to remember him? After all of this?_

"_Why?" he asked, as Dr. Mikaelson scribbled down a few words before looking up. "Why does she still want to try if I've done something so wrong that I pretty much forced her to forget about me? The last time I saw her, she threw her wedding ring at me."_

_Dr. Mikaelson licked his lips and remained still._

"_Hope," he said, as Damon's eyes followed his. "She's… hoping that the man she married is willing to give this a second chance; she's hoping that you're willing to give man she married is willing to give this a second chance; she's hoping that you're willing to give _yourself _another try," he said, and Damon pressed his lips. "She… disclosed to me a few things about Stefan—your brother. Upon thinking about him and remembering what _he's _been through, his name triggered something within her. As soon as she said 'Salvatore,' she knew you had been important to her; she knew you weren't making this all up. She knew you were connected—and she doesn't want to break that connection. Not yet."_

_Damon shifted in his seat as Dr. Mikaelson stood up and handed Damon a piece of paper. _

"_What's this?" _

"_Bonnies release papers," Dr. Mikaelson said softly. "We offered her more accommodation here, at the hospital—just in case she wasn't ready to leave, yet. She… doesn't want to stay here, Damon. She wants to go _home; _she wants to take a chance," he added, as Damon looked up into his eyes. "Are you willing to take a chance, too?"_

Damon's thoughts were brought back to the present, as he saw Bonnie still standing in his doorway, dressed in a pair of shorts and an oversized t-shirt, as she continuously gazed at him.

He'd signed those papers on the dotted line without any hesitation because he _wanted _this; he wanted her to remember what they'd had, more than anything. And even with all the help in the world with Bonnie's upcoming therapy sessions, as well as them attending marriage counseling soon, too, he just didn't know where to begin.

Where the hell did he start?

"I'm… sorry I woke you," she said, as she glanced into his bloodshot eyes. "I just… I don't remember much about this house at all, and I was looking for the tea, if you had any. I know when I'm kind of anxious—"

"It helps you to calm down," he filled in, as she watched him. "I… know, Bonnie. It's in the third cabinet, on the right. I can… get it for you, if you want."

Bonnie sent him a gentle smile as she folded her arms across her chest.

"I think I'd like that," she said.

Damon nodded.

"So let's go, then."

Damon hopped out of bed, and Bonnie followed him silently out of the room and down the staircase towards the kitchen. He tried to keep his head forward, without looking at any of the pictures of he and Bonnie that decorated the place, before walking in and heading straight to the cabinet.

Damon retrieved three different boxes, and Bonnie's expression seemed to relax as he held them up for her to see.

"You've got raspberry, peppermint, and peach in here," he said, as he quickly read the labels. "Your favorite is usually the—"

"Raspberry," she said, as she nodded her head. "I… know, Damon."

Damon remained quiet as he handed her the box and put the other two back. He felt Bonnie's eyes raking over his bare chest as she studied him; not in desire or anything, but in actual curiosity. She was genuinely trying to figure out who he was, as he stood here before her, in their kitchen at two o'clock in the morning.

He'd wished he'd had the courage right now to tell her there was much more to him than met the eye.

He wondered if she'd believe him, anyway.

"If you don't need anything else, then, I guess I'll get going," Damon responded a minute later, as he watched Bonnie dunk the tea bag into scalding water.

Her eyes looked up into his, and he stopped for a moment, as he realized there was something she wanted to say to him. And he was definitely all ears.

"Thank you," she said, surprisingly, and his chest expanded as he took in a deep breath. "I know this is…weird—it feels weird, anyway—but I just… I want to remember you, Damon, and I think if I stay here, in our house, that it'll trigger something… It'll make me remember."

Damon let out a short laugh and folded his arms as he leaned against the counter.

"You have a lot of optimism, don't you? If I were you, I probably would have run the other way. I wouldn't want a thing to do with me."

"But I did, once upon a time, and that should count, right?" she asked.

Damon didn't say a word as Bonnie moved in, and stopped just short of him—gazing into his eyes before she finally nodded and held up her mug of tea.

"I'm gonna take this up to the guest bedroom, Damon—"

"Thank you," he said suddenly, as Bonnie now stopped in her tracks to stare at him. "Thank you for… not giving up, the way I would have. It means a lot, coming from you."

Bonnie smiled gently as she sent him one last glance, and disappeared off into the night.

Damon sucked in a deep breath, and shut his eyes, as he ran his hands over his face.

_He'd hoped that Bonnie had enough hope to carry not one, but both of them._


	3. Haunted

**Haunted**

"_You know—just because it _looks _like I'm sleeping doesn't mean you can creepily stare at me until I finally decide to open my eyes."_

_Damon smirked when the words past Bonnie lips before moving in a bit closer to occupy the shared pillow. He gently placed his hand to her cheek—it felt pleasantly warm thanks to the morning sunrays cascading through the window—and he stroked his thumb over her skin._

_She smiled beneath his touch. He licked his lips in response._

"_Why not? I'm patient," he said, garnering a short laugh from Bonnie mouth as her eyes remained shut. "Besides… you look… halfway decent in the morning. Especially in _my_ t-shirt."_

_Bonnie's eyes finally opened as she sent him a playful sneer, though she was positively gleaming all the while. To say he felt a bit "hypnotized" would be stating the least._

"'_Halfway decent'—what a romantic," she said jokingly, as she shifted her body to face his and he grinned in return. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were trying to sweet talk me."_

"_Don't I always? We've been doing this for a little more than a year, Bonnie—I thought you'd know the drill by now."_

"'_A little more than a year,'" she mocked. "You've been keeping track."_

"_It's easy to do when everything's perfect," Damon replied softly._

_Bonnie pursed her lips to hide a smile and met his eyes in a gentle gaze. She didn't show it, but his heart positively stopped when he looked at her; it always did. And these mornings that they spent together didn't do anything to remedy his quick growing obsession with her, either._

_She was everything to him—much more than she even knew—and he wanted her to know it. _

_He needed her to know it._

"_Admit it—it's working," he said, to which she rolled her eyes in return. "_We're _working—a lot better than you imagined."_

_His hand floated beneath the comforter and rested on her thigh. He felt her goose bumps rise against his fingers and Bonnie shut her eyes again as he moved in a bit closer. She didn't say a word or protest it at all when Damon pulled her in by the waist and sat her onto his lap. She looked down at him with a mindful stare, to which he returned his best puppy dog eyes._

_She couldn't resist _those _for very long, he hoped._

"_I have a plan—"_

"_No," Bonnie interrupted and Damon scoffed. "No _'plans,' _I thought we agreed to keep this fun."_

"_How'd you know I wasn't suggesting more 'fun?' You didn't even let me finish!" he whined._

"_I don't have to—your 'plans' always involve me playing hooky on your days off. Nude. With ESPN on—_your _idea of 'fun.'"_

"_Well, obviously," Damon snorted as Bonnie wrinkled her nose. "What else would I need in this world besides sports highlights and you, naked? That's heaven, basically." _

"_Yeah, well, no amount of 'sweet talking' is going to get me to stay here and be late for work… again," she said, as she suddenly got off of him and moved to the edge of his king size bed. "Everyone's going to think I'm a floozy."_

"_Or lucky," he said, as she climbed out and faced him while he propped his elbow up and rested his head onto his hand. "_Really _lucky."_

_Bonnie rolled her eyes as she stripped off his plain black t-shirt and revealed her matching powder blue bra and underwear, as she neared his dresser and opened up one of the drawers. Damon continued to watch her all the while as she sifted through the items tentatively with a committed look on her face._

"_I should really organize this," she said to no one, as she searched for her things to bring to the shower. "I can never find everything."_

_Damon didn't say anything for a moment as he watched Bonnie grabbing several things and placing them atop the chair nearby. He cleared his throat but she didn't turn around to acknowledge him. _

_If that couldn't get her attention, then his next words would, for sure._

"_Or… we could ditch the whole 'you leaving a few things at my place' idea, and you can just move in, already," Damon said bluntly, to which Bonnie instantly spun around to face him with wide eyes and a confused glare._

_He didn't back down, though his stomach was racing a mile a minute the longer she glared at him like he was growing a second head. If there was one thing Damon and Bonnie had in common, it was their lack of subtlety. It had always been something that they checked at the door since day one._

"_Damon, I—" Bonnie breathed as she shook her head and stopped talking the minute he hopped out of his bed as well, and neared her. "What?"_

_He could undoubtedly feel the weight of her eyes as they coursed over his shirtless skin and he pressed his lips tightly once he stopped before her. She breathed lightly._

"_Before you tell me 'no,' can I least ask you 'why not?'" Damon questioned, as Bonnie inhaled a deep breath and tucked a strand of her brown hair behind her ear. "Why don't you think you this is good idea?"_

_Bonnie fidgeted with her fingers nervously for a second before she eventually formulated her words and spoke them for him to hear._

"_I never said it was a _bad _idea," she reasoned, as Damon's bright blue eyes followed hers. "I just—I made a promise to myself, when I was younger… and I… still feel like I should stick to it."_

"_And that promise was...?"_

"_Oh, no. I can't tell you, it's embarrassing," she said, to which Damon groaned and shook his head. "And traditional... And outdated."_

"_I'm sure it's not that bad, Bonnie. I mean, you believe in having running water and electricity and you always remember to leave the toilet seat up for me, so that right there makes us two adults fit to share a home," he said and Bonnie rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms. "What else am I missing?"_

"_I—I don't know, Damon—"_

"_You _do _know, but you're just not telling me. I thought the ever-so-bold Bonnie Bennett _never _lied about how she felt," he said, as she licked her teeth in response. "Why can't you be honest, now? You know I can take it."_

"_Because it'll scare you off," she said finally and Damon's brows furrowed. "I—"she started and stopped as she breathed lightly and dropped her arms, staring at him all the while. "I made a promise to myself when I was younger that the first guy I moved in with would be the guy that I would… marry," she said lowly, as Damon followed her eyes, though they were now looking at the ground. "After the disaster that was my parent's marriage, I didn't want anything like what they had… I wanted to do things the 'right way;' the way you read about in the stupid books and watch in the movies," she admitted. "I wanted to meet a guy, have him sweep me totally off of my feet, fall in love, and then let the rest of it all fall into place… And I know 'real life' doesn't work that way, sometimes, but I need it to, Damon. I need the storybook ending just to feel like maybe I'll finally get it right… I can't just move in with _you _if this isn't serious—"she stopped and shook her head._

_Damon watched on as Bonnie exhaled slowly and he stepped in a bit closer towards her. His eyes traced over her heart-shaped face carefully and he finally opened his mouth to speak._

"_Are you in love with me?"_

_Bonnie stared at him incredulously though his gaze remained serious and she dropped her shoulders as if it were the most ridiculous notion in the world._

"_Why does that matter, Damon? I mean, what difference does it make? You don't seem like the type of guy who'll want to get married, someday and I—"_

"_It makes all the difference, Bonnie, because I'm ready," he said, as her eyes nearly bugged out of her head and his stare remained the same. "I'm ready to ask the woman that _I_ love to marry me, right now, if that's what it'll take to give her a storybook ending."_

_Bonnie stood frozen as Damon took her hands into his own and tightened his fingers around hers. He'd never seen her so frightened to be honest._

"_Damon—"_

"_Marry me," he said simply, though his mind was racing all the while. "Marry me because I love you and you love me and there is nothing else in this world that either one of us want more than each other."_

_Bonnie sucked in a deep breath and he watched as the conflict filled her eyes immediately and she shook her head furiously._

_He anticipated that._

"_You don't _want _to get married; didn't you say that once?"_

"_I did," he admitted. "But I didn't mean it… I don't think anybody ever _really _means it… Not once they find the person they _want _to spend the rest of their lives with, anyway… And for me, that's _you—_I'm sure about that."_

_Bonnie sucked in another breath and Damon prepared for her next line of defense._

"_I barely know you—"_

"_You're kidding, right? You know… _everything _about me," he said, as she gulped in truth. "My passwords, pin numbers, social security—if you wanted to steal my identity and all of my money, you could do it, Bonnie, in three minutes flat, while filing your nails," Damon said and she let out an accidental laugh at that. "You know me better than anyone."_

"_I might, Damon, but—we're young. We're _too _young—"_

"_And we're not getting any younger, so why not?" he asked as she blinked continuously. "What's the point in waiting if we both know how this ends—how it _should _end?" he challenged and Bonnie chewed at her bottom lip. "You make me the happiest I've ever been, in my entire life. And I know I make you happy, too… I'm ready to marry you, Bonnie, and this is what you want... So, what's stopping us from doing this?" he asked as he watched her green eyes looking at everything but him, until finally she studied his face again._

_There were no words exchanged between the two of them for a moment, as his fingers still held onto hers and Bonnie tried her best not to spontaneously combust into flames. If she was thinking what he was thinking right now, then her thoughts—and her heart—were a complete clusterfuck of emotions, just waiting to explode. _

_What was stopping them from just moving forward and being happy, if it was clear that they both felt the same way about each other?_

"_You," she said, and his stomach dropped as she pulled her hands away and placed them on her hips, as she watched the disappointment filtering throughout his eyes, while he awaited her explanation. "You're stopping this, Damon, because you…" she paused and bit her lip. "You didn't even get down on one knee."_

_Damon blinked vacuously until her words eventually registered within his head. He finally let out a short laugh once he realized Bonnie's face had softened and she was wearing something reminiscent of a smile. His lips curled at the ends as well._

"_You want me to do this properly," he said as his eyes searched her own. "Like they do in the 'stupid books and movies.'"_

_Bonnie shrugged but didn't say a word as she looked up at him and Damon licked his lips._

_That was _exactly _what she wanted._

_Damon ticked his jaw and nodded._

_Fine; if that was what she wanted, that was what she would get. He couldn't promise this would be good, but he hoped it would make her happy. Because all he ever wanted to do was see her smile. _

_Damon suddenly walked backwards and turned around when he met his night table; opening the top drawer and fishing around for a bit as Bonnie stood there curiously, with her heart in her hands. When he turned back around, she saw something glittering between his fingers as he walked back over and he heard her breathe deeply before he stopped again._

_Damon slowly dropped down to his knee and he felt his own palms go sweaty the minute Bonnie's eyes looked into his. He raised the glittering object into her view with careful presentation and Bonnie gasped a little when she realized that it was a ring._

_It was an actual ring._

"_Now, before you go thinking that I planned this—I didn't; I'm not that clever," he said softly and Bonnie laughed gently. "This ring… it belonged to my mom," he added and Bonnie straightened up as Damon exhaled. "When she was dying… quite literally on her deathbed… I went to go see her, alone… I actually got my Dad's car service to pick me up while he was at work, skipped school, and didn't tell Stefan about it either. I just… went to the hospital because I needed to see her one last time on my own, even though the doctors said the chemo was failing and my visiting her would just break my heart even more… I don't even know why they let me in… I mean, I was just a kid. I guess they felt bad," Damon said and Bonnie raised her fingers to his dark hair to brush it softly. _

_Her fingers felt extremely soothing against the crown of his head. He mentally thanked her the minute she even started it._

_She knew Damon's memories about his mother were always the hardest to talk about and she appreciated it each time he shared them with her. He appreciated _her, _because she was always the only person he felt okay sharing this with._

_It was always only her._

"_What did your mom say?" she asked and Damon let out a small laugh as he shook his head._

"_She told me that I was a jackass and that I was gonna fail History," he said and Bonnie smiled warmly as he looked up into her eyes. "She also said that she loved me… and she hoped that one day I'd be able to fill the hole I promised I'd have in my heart when she was gone… I told her not to count on it, and that was when she slipped her ring off of her finger and handed it to me… She said it was 'just in case.'"_

_Bonnie swallowed hard as she felt a lump forming in her throat and a fresh batch of tears in her eyes. She was doing a good job at holding them back, but when she tried to talk her voice came out no stronger than a fragile whisper._

"_Was she right?" Bonnie asked, as Damon took her hand into his own and caressed her palm. _

"_Well yeah, I'm _definitely _a jackass and I totally failed History," he said with a smile and Bonnie laughed softly as he took in a deep breath. "But I—found somebody to fill that void; it was hard… but I did it—_you _did it."_

_Bonnie licked her teeth as Damon held up the sparkling ring and looked into her olive eyes. Tears were now slowly running down her cheeks and Damon sucked in a bout of air before letting it out again. He found himself holding back tears, too, when he remembered his mother's face and the very last time he saw her smile; her smile that told him that he'd find true love again, even if he was convinced he couldn't believe in that sort of stuff anymore._

_Bonnie's smile, right this moment—it made him _believe.

_It was now or never and he couldn't wait much longer; not when the rest of his life was beginning right now._

"_Bonnie Bennett… will you marry me?" he finally asked and a flood of tears appeared on her cheeks. _

_Damon smiled the widest she had ever seen him. Her heart fluttered in response the moment she saw the water building in his eyes._

"_Yes, Damon—yes, I'll marry you," Bonnie said, as he waited no time slipping the ring onto her finger and kissing her hand longingly._

_Bonnie bit her lip in an effort to stop the tear flow, but she soon realized it was useless, the moment he stood to his feet and captured her face into his hands._

_She was staring at her husband-to-be._

"_Damon—"she started, and his voice interrupted softly, as he swallowed hard and followed the glow in her eyes._

"_Kiss me," Damon said gently, and Bonnie smiled happily before leaning in slowly—pressing her lips firmly to his, without any hesitation at all._

_Damon shut his eyes as a feeling of euphoria engulfed him; immediately overtaking his heart and soul, while Bonnie's mouth moved against his and his fingers pulled harder at her tear-strewn cheeks._

_If she had kissed him any harder, she would have left him completely breathless._

"_I love you," she said onto his lips the minute their mouths separated and Damon smiled as his forehead touched hers. "So much… I can't wait to be your wife."_

_Bonnie's arms wrapped around his shoulders, as well and the man pressed his lips to hers one more time, before offering a response._

"_Mrs. Salvatore _does _have a nice ring to it."_

"_Ahem," she cleared her throat and narrowed her eyes. "_Bennett-_Salvatore. I'm keeping both. "_

_Damon rolled his eyes playfully, but he complied; once Bonnie was set after something, there was no talking her out of it. It was one of the things he loved about her, most._

"_And to think this all started with you complaining about your drawer."_

Damon stood in front of his night table, silently, taking in a deep breath as he stared at the glittering ring between his fingertips and his mind raced.

He opened the drawer and slipped it back in; sighing heavily before he slammed it shut, and stared at the wall straight ahead.

It had been a rough night—rough _week, _actually—dealing with the fact that his "wife" not only had no clue who he was, but had also returned the wedding ring that so previously belonged to his later mother, Donna Salvatore. His dad visited—just for the day, thank God—and now it was back to facing reality; the reality that his wife had no idea who he was.

He didn't really know what to make of this—or himself, or anything—now that he was starting from square one, and it was more nerve wracking than anything coming to terms with the fact that he and Bonnie were starting over.

_Completely over._

Damon's mind ramblings were interrupted when he heard a slight knock on his door, and he spun around to see her standing there—as beautiful as ever, in a cornflower yellow sundress and her long brown waves swept over her shoulder. Damon swallowed hard and forced a smile as she stepped in timidly and held her hands at her sides.

_She looked beautiful._

As his eyes studied her, he mentally commended how well she was able to cover up her bruises and scratches from the accident; making it barely visible that she had even been hurt, at all. He imagined the _physical _pain she was in was another story, though—Bonnie had been prescribed painkillers to help ease her aching muscles, operated ribs, and sore joints.

She was definitely a soldier, he thought; she always had been. And she would get through this, as well.

"I'm ready for counseling," she announced softly when their eyes met in a longing stare. "You said to be ready by 11:30, right?"

Damon glanced at his watch—_11:35 A.M—_and nodded swiftly as he stuffed his hands into the pockets of his navy linen pants.

Bonnie may have lost her memory, but she didn't lose her promptness.

"Yeah, we should probably leave… Our appointment is at 12," he said, still feeling a bit uneasy each time he thought about it.

Dr. Mikaelson had suggested that—in addition to Bonnie's individual weekly therapy that would begin next week—that the two attend Marriage counseling _together, _to help with the strain of her memory loss.

Damon wasn't very optimistic about it, to be honest, as he replayed his last meeting with the doctor, where he explained that Bonnie's condition was most likely correlated to "distress" she had suffered in their own relationship. This was happening to her _because _of him, and when or _if_ she _did _finally revive her memories, she'd most likely hate him for it and go through the divorce, anyway.

_So what was the point?_

Bonnie bit her lip quietly as Damon sucked in a bout of air and shook his head.

_He loved her. He _still _loved her. And the fact that he was merely a figure before her—a _stranger—_cut him deeper than any knife could._

_He still belonged to Bonnie; his soul still _breathed _for her, too. But she was no longer _his—_and there was no telling if she would be ever again._

_Just how the hell was he supposed to cope with that?_

Damon fished into his pocket and pulled out his car keys. Bonnie inhaled deeply. She'd only been in a car _once _since the accident, and it was still quite unnerving, for her. Apparently, even the best insurance in the world from Damon's job couldn't afford them with a therapist who made house calls.

_Figures._

"I think we should—"

"Yeah," she nodded. "Let's go."

Damon politely offered his arm towards her, and Bonnie sighed as she wrapped her grip around it, and they walked out of the bedroom.

_It truly was now or never, he realized._

XXXX

"_You are the _only _teacher that I know that comes in on Saturday to type lesson plans and grade papers. Kind of pathetic, isn't it?"_

Stefan looked up from his laptop, to see a quaint Elena Gilbert standing in the doorway to his classroom with two mugs in hand, before she offered a shy smile.

Stefan let out a short laugh as he closed his MacBook, and shrugged his shoulders as she stood there; still just far enough beyond the threshold to keep her distance, but just close enough to show that she wanted no distance.

_She wanted none at all._

"No more pathetic than you sneaking into the faculty lounge to snag some free coffee on _your_ day off, _Ms. Gilbert,_" Stefan replied, as he eyed Elena's casual Converse sneakers, and her light hoodie that was definitely appropriate for the May weather. "Why are you here, anyway?"

"Well, like you said, free coffee," Elena acknowledged, as she held up the two mugs and slowly strolled into the classroom, before letting out a deep sigh. "And grading. Sadly. I kind of can't get anything done when Caroline's snoring because of her hangover," she admitted before taking a seat at one of the desks. "I needed to work in silence."

"So, I have Caroline's drinking habits to thank for this visit?" Stefan asked, as he abandoned his chair, and walked over to her—arms folded across his chest. "I'll have to send her a card, extending my gratitude."

"I wanted some peace, don't get ahead of yourself," she noted, as his brows furrowed.

"_This,_" he motioned, "reminds you of 'peaceful times?'" he asked.

Elena took in a deep breath and placed the second mug down before taking a sip of her coffee.

She was underwhelmed by the taste. Maybe "free" wasn't so good, after all.

"I'm not one of your students, Stefan—don't _analyze _my responses. This is real life—not—" she glanced over at the latest book he was teaching, as it lay on his desk and sneered, "_Othello_."

Stefan bit back a smile before finally taking the second mug of coffee and placing it to his lips. He formulated a response by the time his drink slid down his throat.

"Well, it's a tough life when I'm _forced _to use my literary tactics to figure out just what the hell is going on between us," he said without preamble. "Besides… it's inspiration."

Elena tapped her foot habitually before polishing off her coffee and folding her hands. Stefan's green eyes bore through her like x-rays, but she didn't back down.

She couldn't; not against him.

"Nothing's going on," she said, as her chestnut eyes followed his. "I'm just visiting _a friend._"

"A _friend—_is that what you're calling it, this week?" Stefan asked honestly, as Elena ticked her jaw but didn't take the bait.

"Bonnie told me that she and Damon we're doing marriage counseling, today," she said and Stefan nodded in response. "I'm wondering how it'll go. I mean, she—"

"Wanted a divorce, Elena?" he asked bluntly, and the brunette swallowed hard at that. "That's what she said, right?"

Elena looked down at the desk before meeting his eyes again, and pressed her cherry lips together.

"It's what she wanted, Stefan, but that doesn't mean she was actually going to go through with it."

"You're lying," Stefan said openly. "And quite frankly, I don't know why you feel the need to, anyway. I mean, it's not like we both don't _want _the same thing, right, Elena?"

Elena ran her fingers through her hair anxiously, as Stefan moved in a bit closer and stopped just short of the desk. Her round eyes studied his intently, as his emerald orbs shot right back.

She needed to blink, just to relieve herself of the moment.

"She's my best friend, Stefan—"

"But she's a little bit of an enemy, too, right? I mean… she's _married _to the guy that _you're _in love with. The guy that _you _want," he said, as Elena bit her lip nervously. "And now, she's forgotten all about him… Isn't that a bit of motivation, for you?"

Elena sucked in a deep breath and Stefan tapped his fingers against his mug as her glare suddenly hardened.

"You would do _all _of this, _just _to be with her?" Elena asked, and Stefan took another sip, never dropping his gaze, all the while.

"It's not just about _'being with Bonnie,' _Elena," he said, as he paced before her and let his eyes drift around the classroom, with no real focus at all. "Damon has a habit of taking everything I _love _and destroying it; he ruins _everything _and everyone_… _And the last thing I ever wanted him to _touch _was _her._"

Elena remained silent as Stefan now finished his coffee, too, and placed it on his desk. He leaned in closer towards her, and she immediately felt her stomach bouncing just by the look in his eyes.

This plan he had—to tear Bonnie and Damon apart—was _serious. _And whether she agreed with him or not, he was going to do it. It was just a question of whether or not she had enough strength to hurt the people that she treasured.

_To betray the people that she loved, for her own selfish gains._

So, when Stefan approached her to go out on a "date" a week ago, she was definitely shocked that there _was _somebody thinking exactly the way that she was; that Damon and Bonnie's marriage needed to be over, and that they were the two who could put the final nail in the coffin.

Stefan and Elena weren't merely _friends, _but now _accomplices, _as the two vowed to figure out a way to drive a further wedge between the two, now that Bonnie had lost her memories. And in their victory, they would _both _have what they truly wanted. Elena would have Damon; the man that she was so helplessly but secretly attracted to, since the very moment that he appeared into their lives.

And Stefan?

He not only wanted Bonnie, but he had built up some sort of obsessive _dependence, _on her, that almost felt like a drug, the longer he looked at the symptoms of his behavior.

_He was infatuated with her._

From the very moment that he had met her at Oberlin, and Bonnie helped him to overcome—what he convinced her was—a "small" alcohol addiction, he was addicted to the need to have her in his life.

He considered it the worst mistake of his existence the minute he allowed his brother to take her attention away from him.

And now, he was going to right that wrong.

"Think of it as us doing Bonnie a favor," Stefan said lightly, as the maniacal gleam in his eye shone just a bit too brightly. "They're all wrong for each other. They fight, they argue—"

"They make up two seconds later, because that's _just _how they are," Elena reminded bitterly, as she thought about all of the times Damon called _her _for advice and she reluctantly told him the _right thing _to do, though she prayed—just once—that she'd have the bravery to lead them astray.

She'd never been able to do it. Not until now; _now, _she wanted to.

_She wanted to get her way._

And the longer Stefan tried to coax her into doing this, the easier it became to accept, for her. She and Stefan deserved happiness, too, and if they could only get that by taking it away from somebody else, she'd have to do it.

_She'd have to do what was right for her, for a change._

"There are only so many times 'love' can lead the way," Stefan reminded, as he stooped to Elena's eye level and cocked his head. "They're weaker than ever, right now, Elena… Please tell me you're ready for this."

Elena pursed her lips and Stefan waited silently as she looked down to the desk. When she finally looked back up and he caught glint of the wicked sparkle in her eyes, he grinned slowly.

She was all-aboard.

"Let's do this, Mr. Salvatore," she said lowly, as a smile formed at her cheeks and Stefan's eyes widened with contentment the minute the words passed her lips. "Let's get this done."

Stefan leaned in and his mouth pressed against Elena; catching her in a slight bit of shock, but enjoyment, nonetheless, as he kissed her fully and placed a firm hand to her cheek the moment they separated.

His thumb stroked her jaw.

"It's going to be a pleasure to work with you, Ms. Gilbert."

XXXX

To say therapy was _awkward_ was an understatement.

Besides the fact that Damon and Bonnie _both _felt uncomfortable speaking in front of each other about their feelings to a doctor, it was just _weird, _in general, trying to figure out just where to begin.

During the drive home, Damon tried to convince himself that things would get better; that in two or three weeks, they'd get over the stage fright and down to business about their marriage, without even realizing it, at all.

But as he looked over at Bonnie, who was hopelessly staring out the window, trying to calm her nerves as the cars passed, his faith declined.

Was it really over, for good, this time?

When Damon's Range Rover pulled into the driveway, he turned off the ignition to his car and blankly stared ahead at their home.

_The place that he'd asked her to live in, and subsequently proposed to her over—because she needed to be a princess, and he wanted nothing less than to treat her like a queen._

His queen.

Damon turned to look at Bonnie, and the girl finally looked back him; taking in Damon's sullen eyes and feeling the pain of the stranger, tenfold.

_She'd never felt more connected to somebody she barely knew, in her entire life._

"it'll get better," she said with a twinge of hope in her voice and Damon laughed dryly as he shook his head and met her eyes.

"Will it? I mean, we can't even _talk _to each other, Bonnie without this feeling… _forced," _he admitted, as Bonnie licked her teeth. "I'm sorry, Bonnie," he said immediately, as he took in a breath and shrugged. "I just talk, a lot, sometimes—and I barely know what I'm talking about."

"You don't think so?" she asked softly, as his blue eyes expanded. "You can be honest with me, Damon… It's not like I can't take it."

There was a long silence between the two before finally, Damon sifted his fingers through his raven hair and spoke in a callous whisper.

"I failed you, Bonnie… I did. I was… gone, all the time—the majority of the time—and I just… left you. I should have been here to protect you."

She blinked softly and shook her head in response.

"You didn't fail, Damon—I'm still here—"

"Without a thought or a memory of _me _to your name," he said, before he exhaled. "And when it all comes back, what are the chances that you'll still want this; that you'll still want _me?_ You… you filed for a divorce, Bonnie."

"For reasons I'm sure we'll get to, Damon, but right now? Now, I-I don't want a _divorce, _I just… I want to remember what we had… At least before we throw it all away."

Damon shut his eyes as his mind raced a mile-a-minute; how could she be so forgiving in all her fragileness, what she hadn't even had the slightest clue about who he was?

How could she be so sure?

"But it seems like I want this more than you do," she cut in, and Damon instantly sobered as he opened his eyes and looked at her again.

Bonnie was shaking her head.

"Damon, I—I don't know you, right now, at all. And I should have probably run to Elena and Caroline's the minute Dr. Mikaelson warned me about doing this too quickly, but I didn't. I didn't, because I wanted to fight for this, Damon—I _needed _to… the same way you were ready and willing to fight for _me, _the first time I saw you in the hospital."

Damon recalled his talk with Bonnie; about wanting to do things differently, and about needing another chance to make this right between them. He remembered the baffled look on her face as she explained that she didn't have any knowledge about who he was to her.

He remembered, clearly, as his dreams were crushed.

And now, that they had been revived—given a second chance—was he so stupidly counting himself out of it, already?

_Was he actually the failure he pegged himself to be?_

"I don't know what happened between us, Damon; what made me want to end this… and honestly? It doesn't matter all too much, right now, anyway… What matters is the fact that you said you were going to fight—and I believe you want to... I expect _a lot _from you, now, but I don't expect you to give up, "she said. "The Damon I met that day didn't seem like he was ready to quit, or throw in the towel… And I don't think the Damon before me, today, is ready to either."

Bonnie moved in a bit in closer and Damon scoffed lightly as he watched the fierceness in her eyes. A fierceness that he had long missed.

"What do you want me to do, Bonnie?"

"I want you to lay yourself out on the line, Damon—just like I am," she said carefully as she searched his face. "I want you to tell me that you still want this _just _as much—if not _more—_than you did, a few days ago. I want you to take a chance, even if it means you might get hurt."

Damon bravely took both of Bonnie's hands into his own and she sighed as his thumbs ran circles over her fingers, slowly and smoothly.

He knew that he would have to work up the will to touch her, again; hell, that even touching her _now _was much more than he should have been doing, but he didn't care.

He just needed to feel her; he just needed to feel _this._

"I do, Bonnie—I… want this. And I'll fight for it, any way that I know how."

Bonnie looked down at the soft movement of his fingers caressing hers, and her mind told her to be wary—be _cautious _of the man before her, who had in some way, broken her heart so badly, that she never wanted to be with him, ever again.

She should have been more careful; and she was trying, to her credit.

But she couldn't ignore the way her heart involuntarily fluttered the moment he admitted it; that he was _still _in this, just as much as she was—as they _could _be—and that they weren't going to give up, just yet, when it came to fixing this.

Damon may have been a stranger, but he wasn't a complete mystery. And what she had learned about him, so far, was that he needed love to feel alive; he needed love to be free.

And that must have been what brought them together in the first place, because she knew that she needed that, too.

_They needed each other to get through this._

Damon continued his gaze at Bonnie and her heart spiked when she noticed a delicate change in his expression that seemed to overtake him at the blink of an eye.

The second it happened, her instincts told her to be afraid; but a minute later, she knew that the calm that had replaced her quick panic wasn't by chance, but by design.

_Her heart knew that she could trust him. Her heart knew that she should see this though._

"Would you… like to go out sometime?" Damon asked, as Bonnie's brow rose. "It sounds _ridiculously weird, _but—"

"Are you asking me on a date?" Bonnie asked as Damon shrugged.

"Ironic, right?" Damon questioned, and Bonnie smiled shortly. "I mean—I just figured that if we're giving this an honest chance, we might as well start at square one: me _wooing _you."

Bonnie had to all but hold in her laughter at his choice of words as she dropped his hands and crossed them over her chest.

"_Wooing _me? Is that what you called it when this all started? And I said _yes?_"

"Easy…" Damon warned softly and she grinned. "I haven't…_ had_ to ask you out on a date in years. This is-"

"Nerve wracking?" she asked and he shrugged. "Damon, I'll make it easy for you… just this once," she said. "Yes… Yes, I will go out on a date with you."

Damon's eyes lit up imaginatively as Bonnie's smile curved, and his mind raced.

_He just asked her out on a date, and she said yes. She actually said yes._

"I'm…sure you know a lot more about _us _that I do, right now, so… Let me know what we're going to do, and I'm down. Okay?"

Damon nodded dumbly, as Bonnie finally opened the passenger side door, and got out of the car gracefully, without another word at all.

There was nothing more that he could do, other than follow as, as he finally opened his door and got out of the car, as well.

But to be honest, following her wasn't _that _hard; wanting to be with her never was.

And now, he'd get another chance to do just that.

_He was getting another chance to do it right._

**A/N: Hey all! So I know I haven't updated in a bit and I apologize! My mind has been in a dizzy lately, fighting for inspiration, so I hope the wait was well worth it! What do you think of Damon's memories of Bonnie and how they intertwine in the present? Are you excited for their first date and just how he'll go about trying to revv those thoughts that she has about him? Only time will tell… Oh! And were you shocked about Stefan and Elena being the villains in this story?! Stefan is my fave character on TVD, but I just love him so much when he's bad/has a hidden agenda, so I decided to make him be the monkey wrench in this story. What do you think he and Elena have planned, and will it work? You'll have to read and see! ;) As usual, thank you for all of your lovely reviews, comments, and words for me. I really appreciate it! Until next time and next update, loveys! R&R xoxo **


	4. Just Give Me a Reason

**Just Give Me a Reason**

"_You know it's bad luck to see the bride before the ceremony, right? I could actually hurt you right now."_

_Damon smirked as he walked into the bridal suite and shut the door behind him, as Bonnie continued to face the vanity mirror, with her bouquet of white lilies lying on the dresser before her._

_Damon picked them up briefly and breathed in the sweet scent of the fresh flowers, before placing them back down._

"_Now, you don't _actually _believe in that, do you? I remember you saying yourself that all superstitions are bogus," Damon replied._

_Bonnie flashed him a grin as she put on her white gold tennis bracelet and shrugged lightly._

"_I might have said that, yeah."_

_Damon took in a deep breath as his eyes coursed over her bare shoulders and slender arms before he placed his smooth hands against her skin, and kissed the top of her silky black hair. It was styled graciously into an elegant bun, with a few curly stands falling loosely, to complete the whole "princess look."_

_Though if he were honest, she looked more like a queen, to him._

_Bonnie shut her lids softly as Damon's hands smoothed down her arms and made every hair left of her body stand up as his lips moved just behind her ear._

_His whisper carried throughout her entire body._

"_You look stunning. I just couldn't help myself. Bad luck or not."_

_Bonnie sighed as she turned around to face him and Damon's aquatic blue eyes were staring right into her own. Damon brushed a loose strand behind her diamond encrusted ear and he smirked._

_How the hell had he gotten so lucky?_

"_It doesn't matter what _we _believe in. If anybody finds you up here, they'll probably lynch us," Bonnie reported and Damon scoffed as he bent to his knees and fastened her loose silver heel. "Caroline, especially. She's been planning our wedding for months."_

_That was one of the many benefits of having a professional event planner for your best friend. Besides the fact that Bonnie had to been so many luxurious and exclusive occasions all thanks to Caroline's connections, she'd taken her expertise one step further, this time, and planned them the wedding of their dreams, as her gift._

_They didn't expect anything less than perfection from the blonde, when Bonnie realized just how beautiful and detailed everything was, and she considered herself lucky the minute she ran down the list of specifics for the glowing bride._

_It was flawless; just as Bonnie had imagined her wedding day to be._

"_I'm not marrying Caroline," Damon said, as he fastened her shoe and cradled her foot. "I'm marrying _you. _Today. And I can't even begin to think about how anything could be better than this."_

_Bonnie smiled gently and Damon let his eyes wander across the elegant strapless Vera Wang trumpet gown, with the beaded empire waist, and accented hemline. _

_She looked gorgeous—as he had known that she would—and even more than the desire that he had to throw her over his shoulder and whisk her away on their honeymoon in __Venice, Italy, Damon had one more thing that he wanted to do even _more _than that._

_He just wanted to _marry_ her._

_It'd only been a few months since his impromptu proposal that memorable morning where he surprised himself and Bonnie by popping the question, but he had trouble recalling anything that had felt this _right _in such a long time. And with Caroline's help of planning the wedding as soon as possible as a result, and Damon couldn't be any happier._

_He couldn't wait for Bonnie to become the new Mrs. Bennett-Salvatore._

_He couldn't wait for Bonnie to officially be _his.

_And though it felt like a bit much to him, flying out their families, friends, and everyone else that they knew to the Eastern End of Long Island for the special day—after all, it was the very place that his parents had gotten married—Damon didn't have any regrets about it._

_He was ready to do this and he was ready for it all to be with her._

_Bonnie was the love of his life. He didn't imagine that feeling would ever have a chance at changing._

_Bonnie placed a hand to Damon's face and he grinned when her eyes met his with a flattering smile. Yes, she was obviously annoyed that he was ignoring wedding tradition and interrupting her princess fantasy, but she was also glad._

_Glad because she was going to marry the love of her life and wedding traditions be damned, nothing could ever stop them at this point. _

_Especially not the "rules."_

"_I love you," Bonnie said and Damon smiled when her forehead pressed against his and she offered a short laugh. "But I _will _kick your ass if you don't go down there and cry when I walk down the aisle like it's the first time you've seen me today. Now get out of here before Caroline and Elena get back. They'll never forgive me for letting you see their work before you were actually _supposed _to," she warned._

_Damon nodded as well as he rose to his feet; Bonnie's hand now in his own._

_He kissed it softly before letting it fall lightly to her side as she cocked her head._

_He knew how to take a message. He also knew that Bonnie had a killer left-hook. Damon placed his hands over his eyes and backed up towards the door. He could feel Bonnie's smirk radiating in his direction as he searched for the knob. She had to stifle a giggle when he nearly tripped over his own feet trying to "blindly" lead himself out._

"_I don't remember a thing," he said as Bonnie shook her head. "I don't even know if you were actually Bonnie. Talk about horrible memory, right?"_

"_Goodbye, Damon," she whispered, as he uncovered his eyes just long enough to send her a wink before jet-setting out of the room faster than a cheetah taking off after its prey. _

_After all, he was a man about to get married; and it was only a matter of time until Bonnie walked down the aisle and gave him everything that he had been waiting for._

_It was in that moment that Damon Salvatore truly believed that he had had it all._

Damon looked up into his full-length mirror and adjusted his black tie, before then slowly running his hands down his pants and fixing his blazer.

Why had this all felt so much easier on his wedding day?

He glanced at his watch and took in a deep breath when he realized this was it—this was now _the _most important moment in he and Bonnie's relationship and he couldn't be more terrified once he recognized that this had to go well.

It _needed _to go off without a hitch; their future depended on it.

Damon spun around to face his brother, who was mindlessly texting on his phone before he looked up to meet Damon's eyes. Damon pressed his lips together before slicking his fingers through his raven hair.

Stefan cocked his head.

"On a scale of one to Ryan Gosling—"Damon began and Stefan held up his hand to stop him.

"You look fine, Damon. Honestly," Stefan said as Damon turned back around to face the mirror. "I don't know what you're so worried about."

"Gee, I don't know, Stefan—I'm going on a 'first date' with my _wife_ who doesn't remember who the hell I am, but seemingly wanted to divorce my ass when she _did. _Am I supposed to be calm?"

"Yeah," Stefan answered as Damon continued to straighten his tie. "It'd probably do you wonders. It's not like it can get any worse, can it? You're overthinking this."

"And you're oversimplifying it. Like you always do," Damon said, and Stefan sighed as he rose to his feet and neared the mini bar in Damon's bedroom. "If I screw this up, it's over."

Stefan's jaw ticked as he grabbed two shot glasses and filled them each to the brim with some whiskey as his brother droned on about his hair, or his shoes, or something.

_Honestly? _Stefan hadn't really been listening.

He'd taken to crushing a Valium or two and lining Damon's shot glass with it, while his brother went into the bathroom to brush his teeth for the thousandth time.

_It wasn't exactly a clean move—and definitely not a _safe _one—but sometimes the risk was worth the reward. _

And Stefan's prize? Well, the night would tell, if everything happened the way it was supposed to.

He walked back over to Damon and shoved a shot into his hand.

"Oh, absolutely _not. _I'm not drinking before my first date with my _wife._"

"Just one shot, Damon—it'll settle your nerves," Stefan urged as he gave him a pat on the back and his brother stared back at him skeptically. "Bonnie's my best friend, you know—and I want this night to be special for her. And it won't be special if you're too busy asking her if she likes your tie."

Damon sighed and rolled his eyes.

He wasn't _that _bad, was he?

_Of course he was._

He raised the glass to Stefan's and tapped his before raising it easily to his lips and gulping down the liquor—letting it burn all the way into his throat before he placed it on a and swiped a hand over his mouth.

"I think the whiskey's going bad," Damon said simply, and Stefan didn't say a word as he finished his untampered shot.

If it weren't for the air conditioning cranked at what felt like below 30 degrees, he was sure he'd be sweating right now.

He was _that _nervous.

"What time's the reservation?" Stefan asked casually and Damon peered at his watch again and exhaled.

"7:00, at _Giorgio's,_" Damon replied. "She liked that place a lot, back when we started dating."

"Fancy," Stefan said. "Think it'll work?" he asked curiously.

Damon licked his lips again and stroked his chin.

Dating had been something he had always been confident about, in the past. Even before he met Bonnie, he could get whatever he wanted with whoever he wanted, and he never had to think twice about whether or not his efforts would be good enough to impress the object of his affections, because they were—_he _was always good enough.

But now? What the hell could he expect from this, exactly?

Bonnie was basically a stranger, and they were now back at square one; only, it was even more nerve-wracking than it was the first time around.

His anxiety had increased tenfold.

If he screwed this up, it really _might _have been the end for he and Bonnie; it could have been all over if he didn't win her back.

Damon grabbed his car keys and Stefan didn't say a word as his eyes followed him from the mirror to the doorway. Damon may have been nervous—and now drugged— but you couldn't tell by his stride at all.

He looked totally prepared for this and that may have been what bothered Stefan the most; that Damon always had a way of pretending to put his best foot forward even when it was way behind him. It'd been something that no one could ever beat him at. Not even him.

_But this time, it wouldn't be long before he ruined everything. Just like he always did._

"I intend to make it work. Wish me luck brother," Damon said before he walked out and Stefan licked his teeth as he listened to the sound of his brother advancing down the steps and finally to the front door.

"I'll just… let myself out," Stefan called back, though Damon had left the house moments ago.

The only response he'd received was the echo of his own voice bouncing against the walls.

_Great._

Stefan rose to his feet as he began to walk out of the room, and then he stopped. He walked back over towards the picture on Damon's dresser in the frame and picked it up to observe it silently, while his eyes seemed to work at a mile a minute.

In the picture, Damon was carrying his new bride and Bonnie, with her arms tightly around his shoulders, was grinning all the while.

Stefan inhaled a deep breath as he studied the looks they were exchanging; the pure _happiness _in both Damon and Bonnie's eyes as they looked at one another, as if they didn't see anyone else.

As if they didn't _want _anyone else, either.

Stefan licked his tongue over his teeth and placed the picture back onto the dresser—just where it had been—and stuffed his hands in his pockets as his gaze remained fixed on the frame.

All good things had to come to an end, he believed—and if they didn't? He'd just have to stop them himself.

Bonnie may have married Damon, but in Stefan's heart, she still belonged to _him._

And if Stefan had his way, she'd be back sooner than he thought. Preferably, screaming for her life.

For Stefan, it was _game on._

XXXXX

"This is weird—this entire thing is _weird, _isn't it?" Bonnie asked as she stared into the vanity mirror before her and Caroline scoffed as she loosened her hair from the curling iron barrel before she rolled her eyes.

Bonnie chewed at her bottom lip habitually, and the girl ran arranged her curls at her shoulders before offering a response.

"What's so weird about this? You're all healed from your injuries, and now—to celebrate—you are going on a date."

"With my _husband_," Bonnie corrected. "Damon's my _husband, _and now we're dating… Again. I'm pretty sure the marriage counselor thinks that this is doomed. She won't say it but I know she's given up hope on me remembering anything. It really is a lost cause if you think about it, isn't it?"

"Don't say that," Caroline replied, as she slapped Bonnie's hand and shook her head. "You're not _doomed _okay? You're just… starting over. Plenty of marriages go through this phase," she reassured, as she fluffed Bonnie's waves. "Albeit, it's usually when they're _fifty, _and there aren't any memory lapses involved unless we're talking _The Notebook_," Caroline chatted and Bonnie frowned as she waved her hands dismissively. "But I have hope, Bon. You should have hope; you _said _you had hope!" Caroline whined and Bonnie groaned as she glanced at her reflection and pursed her lips.

Her makeup had been perfectly applied and her hair looked professionally done, thanks to the blonde herself. Her dress was black and rose just above the knee, but Caroline convinced her it was simple and chic. She _looked _a lot more ready for this date than she actually _felt, _and she was beginning to think that made her a bit of a joke. She'd been so sure about this when Damon suggested the idea weeks ago and now she was terrified to actually go through with it.

What the hell was wrong with her?

They'd been roommates—practically _living together—_though they still slept in separate rooms, and now, they were finally prepared to take the next step.

They were finally going to go on a date.

And though it should have been second nature by now, getting used to each other again, Bonnie was having more difficulty than she thought.

It'd been about a month since the accident and things were finally starting to look up for her.

_Or so she thought._

She was almost able to return to work, her injuries were almost entirely healed, and Damon—Damon was still there.

He hadn't gotten sick of her yet; in fact, the two were talking more than ever, lately. From conversations in the kitchen every morning, as he made them breakfast, to simple chats during the commercial breaks while _Breaking Bad _was on, they seemed to be growing a bit more comfortable around one another, with each day that passed.

That was until she asked him the status of them going out on their "first" date.

Bonnie sighed as she ran her fingers through her hair and met Caroline's clear blue eyes in the mirror. She was staring at her questioningly in return; her best friend always had a way of knowing something was on her mind.

Right now seemed to be no different.

"Spit it out," Caroline urged. "What are you thinking?"

"What if… what if he's changed his mind?" Bonnie asked as Caroline's brows furrowed. "You know, about me? What if Damon thinks this is all way more trouble than it's actually worth? I can see how frustrating it has to be pretending that he can go back to square one when I'm actually _married _to him and he remembers _everything._"

Caroline snorted as she placed both hands on Bonnie's shoulders.

"You're kidding, right? The last thing Damon's ever gonna give up on is _you…_ He's doing all of this because he believes in your relationship—he believes in _you. _Didn't you say he was nervous this morning when you asked him if you guys were still on for tonight? The Damon _I _know probably spazzed out although he tried to play it cool, even though he isn't—_at all_," Caroline noted.

Bonnie smiled at the recollection.

Damon had nearly spilled the coffee out of his cup when she questioned him about their reservation and she was sure he scalded himself about three more times when he did finally dish the details, though he tried to remain nonchalant about it.

_Maybe he really was still into this, a month later, after all._

"He's your _husband, _Bonnie; not some random stray you picked up at a skeevy bar… Of _course _he's still into you. And after he sees you tonight, he won't forget why."

"Well, obviously. We don't need _two _people in this relationship with memories comparable to Alzheimer's," Bonnie said and Caroline shook her head.

Bonnie's thoughts were interrupted when the doorbell to Caroline and Elena's apartment began to ring and her hands tightened up the second Caroline applied the final touches to her look before she left to go get it. It could have been _Elena, _for all she knew, finally coming back from her parent's place, but when she heard a man's voice and Caroline's snarky giggle she knew.

_This was it; it was finally time._

Bonnie stood up and straightened the dress; glancing at herself in the mirror one more time before finally grabbing her purse and heading out of the bedroom, once and for all.

Her heels clicked against the floor as she moved towards the living room, and Bonnie's heartbeat tripled when she slowly made her way in and stopped once her eyes fixated on his.

Damon, as handsome as ever, was holding a bouquet of white lilies, and wearing a deep smile that shook and melted her at the core, all at once.

She didn't know much about this man but she did know this—he was strikingly attractive, and the fact that he had brought her favorite flowers was an A-plus move already. This was already off to a good start.

"Bonnie," he said simply and she smiled, as she slung her bag over her shoulder and studied his eyes.

_Was it those eyes that had enchanted her into marrying him? It must have been._

"Hi," she breathed, as she felt Caroline grinning at the two wildly from the corner of her eyes, though she was intent on ignoring it. "Are you… ready to go?"

"You bet," he nodded, when she moved in and he handed her the flowers. "I got these for you, obviously. Unless Caroline wants to swipe them as her 'Thank You' gift," he said and the girl snorted.

"I think they look better with Bonnie," she reassured, before glancing at her watch and grinning. "What time's that reservation?"

"In ten minutes," Damon said. "Which means we have to go," he added.

Bonnie sucked in a bout of air and flashed Caroline one more hopeful smile her way before the girl waved them off and they headed out of the apartment in a few seconds flat.

_It was definitely now or never._

XXXXX

Damon sat in silence as he cut through the sirloin on his Marsala dish, and he listened on as Bonnie took a tentative bite of her Chicken Saltimbocca, before taking a sip of water to wash it all down.

They sat in complete silence, as the only sounds between them were his silverware getting to work and Bonnie's light breathing, as the traditional Italian music in the restaurant played on.

Damon blinked a few times as his struggled to gain a focused view of everything before him, but it didn't seem to work.

He wasn't sure if it was his nerves getting to him or what, but he just felt _out of it._

_He quite literally felt like he wasn't even there._

When his eyes finally looked up, hers did as well and he tried to gauge her response.

"Well?" he asked, as she wiped her lips with her a napkin. "Good? Great? Never-take-me-here-again-because-it's-horrible?" he questioned starkly to keep with words from slurring and Bonnie shook her head with a grin.

He breathed a little bit easier once he saw her smile.

"It's really good. I think you actually made a good decision to come here," Bonnie said.

Damon scoffed playfully as he tipped a piece of steak into his mouth before chewing it easily loosely and gulping it down. _Did he even finish chewing that? _His blue eyes attempted to narrow in her direction. He wasn't sure just how successful he had been.

"_Actually? _You say it like you're shocked that I have such good taste," he answered and Bonnie rolled her eyes.

"I didn't say _that_," Bonnie answered. "But I think you might _actually _be a little sensitive," she teased. "And nervous—how many Jack and Coke's have you had, now? Two?"

Damon licked his lips lazily and pushed his drink away.

He tended to liquor up when he was nervous and he had a bad habit of not realizing it until he was piss-drunk and slurring his words. He wasn't so much embarrassed as he was _grateful _that Bonnie took notice and had the good sense to say something.

So much for holding her tongue on the first date, right? He probably shouldn't listened to Stefan in the first place. He could barely see straight right now, he realized.

"I'm fine," he said, though he felt the opposite; and the feeling was barreling down on him quicker than ever before.

He _really _wasn't good at talking right now. And quite frankly, it was making his head dizzy.

"Are you sure?" Bonnie asked and he exhaled when he heard the concern in her voice. "I think you're nervous. And I can relate… I feel… overdressed—"

"I think you look _hot_," he blurted before snapping his lips shut again.

"_Stop talking, Damon," he mentally recited. "Now."_

Bonnie let out a short laugh before shaking her head silently.

"Well, now that _that's out there,_" she said and he furrowed his brows.

"That was… blunt, I'm sorr—"

"Thank you," Bonnie cut in and his eyes softened once they met hers once more. "I thought Caroline was overdoing it, as usual, with the hair and make-up and everything—I honestly didn't even wanna _wear_ this," she confessed and Damon looked down again as he picked up his silverware and began an attempt at cutting his steak again.

Bonnie's eyes followed the loose precision of his knife and she immediately leaned forward and stopped his hand just as he almost sliced down.

Damon looked up at her with heavy eyes.

"Y-You almost cut yourself," she said softly, and he looked down to see the knife positioned right over the palm of his hand, almost intentionally. "Damon, are you _sure _you're okay? You seem…"

"I'm not drunk," he said as he sat up and met her eyes. "It takes _a lot more_ to get to me. Trust me," Damon eased, though the look in his did nothing to ease her worries.

Bonnie reached forward and took his wrist into her hand. He eyed her dumbly as she felt around for a pulse until finally she felt a very slow and labored _thump _pumping throughout his veins.

Her brows knitted as she rose to her feet and Damon glanced on confusedly.

_What the hell was she doing?_

"We're gonna go," Bonnie said suddenly and Damon scoffed lightly as she pulled him to his feet and he wobbled a bit. "You're not yourself right now."

"I think I'm fine," Damon lied, as he saw double vision for a second before shaking his head and straightening it out.

_Maybe Bonnie was onto something._

She reached into her pocketbook for some cash and daintily placed it on the table as she excused her and Damon while they walked past the waiter and the hostess.

"He's not feeling well" she explained, as she helped to guide him out the front door, and then to the valet, who immediately brought the car around once he noticed Damon's condition.

"_Do you need assistance, ma'am?" he asked, and Bonnie inhaled a deep breath as she glanced at the Range Rover—silently reliving the car accident that had almost taken her life months ago._

Bonnie shivered and forced a smile.

"No, I can drive."

She helped Damon into the car and fastened his seatbelt, as he continued to talk on about mindless matters, before she found herself behind the wheel—breathing heavily as she placed a hand on the gear.

_What a way to be forced back into this._

Bonnie hadn't driven a car since that fateful night and she didn't exactly realize just how terrified she was of doing this until right now.

She was completely _petrified._

Bonnie pulled on her seatbelt and sat quietly; her hands shaking, as she looked in rearview mirror but didn't make an inch to move.

Maybe she really _couldn't _do this, she thought. Maybe she'd never get over what happened to her, and she'd be destined to live in fear for the rest of her life because she wasn't strong enough to move forward.

_Maybe she wasn't strong enough to do anything._

Bonnie's thoughts were pierced when she felt something, and she looked over to see a nearly unconscious Damon looping his fingers through hers, with a dazed smile and sleepy eyes.

He blinked a few more times before sitting up straighter, though his body was unbearably limp in the passenger seat. Bonnie eyed him carefully as he spoke.

"I'm so sorry I'm such a screw-up."

Bonnie remained silent as Damon's fingers continued to trace hers, and she swallowed hard before looking into his pale blue eyes and shaking her head softly.

"I'm not perfect either, Damon—"

"You are," he interrupted, as his hand gripped hers even tighter and she felt a sudden wave of emotion hitting her stomach, the longer his gaze burned through her. "You're so _perfect, _Bonnie and I'm not… I'm just _not. _And you deserve better… I think that you'll do better; I _want _you to."

Bonnie pursed her lips when she recognized the onset of tears settling behind her eyes and she looked forward.

Why was he doing this? Why _now?_

"I'm going to get you home," she said softly, before pulling out her cell phone and taking in a deep breath before hitting the button for her contact directory.

She was going to do this; she was sure of it. But first, she needed some support.

She needed to hear her best friend's voice.

"_Hello? Bonnie?" _she heard on the line and she almost breathed a sigh of relief that he had answered; he'd never let the phone go past the second ring, when it came to her, anyway.

"Stefan, where are you?" she asked. "Are you busy?"

"_No, I was just hanging out with Elena, on my way home now. Is everything okay? Where's Damon?"_

Bonnie exhaled before turning to her side to glance at the man, who was now sleeping and she shrugged her shoulders. She wasn't sure where Damon had gone, nor that he' d ever actually _been here _in the first place.

"He passed out," she revealed. "I don't know—maybe he drank too much. I just—I'm gonna drive us home, now, and I—"Bonnie stopped and looked at Damon longingly before clutching her phone a bit tighter. "I don't know if I can do this alone, Stefan."

Stefan breathed in on the other line and Bonnie bit her lip when she imaged the look of concern crossing his face. His thick brows drew together and his forehead wrinkled in the silence.

_She knew exactly what Stefan appeared like in that very moment,_

"_I can drive there, Bonnie—pick you guys up—"_

"Thank you, Stefan, but I don't need you to do that," she reassured shakily. "I just… will you be there, when I get home? I want to call Caroline or Elena but I don't—I don't think they'll understand. And he's your _brother—_"

"_I'll be there, Bonnie,"_ Stefan said and she felt a rush of calm run through her like a smooth morning wave. _"You don't have a thing to worry about, okay? You're strong. You've always been strong."_

Bonnie nodded silently as she inhaled and tightened her hand on the gear.

She could _definitely _do this.

"Thank you," she said softly. "I mean it. You're the best."

"_You'd do it for me, Bonnie. See you when you get here, okay?"_

Bonnie nodded to herself and ended the call before placing her phone back into her bag.

If there had been one thing that the accident taught her, it was that every day would be a challenge, but she could overcome it.

She _would _preserve, because it was all that she knew; she was _alive, _and that was the biggest gift that she could have received out of this, after all.

Now wasn't the time to give up.

_Not on herself, and perhaps not on Damon, either._

XXXXX

"Hey, remember that time when you were _so _convinced that the directions on the side of the Ramen soup package were just a _suggestion _on how to make it, and you nearly burnt my dorm down when the microwave lit on fire?" Stefan asked, and Bonnie laughed heartily as she slipped off her heels and placed her hands over her mouth in shock when she recalled the college memory. "You definitely killed our study session and I still blame you for that A that I got in Broadcast Journalism, instead of the AI so rightly deserved," Stefan smirked.

Bonnie rolled her eyes as she made her way across the tiled ground in she and Damon's kitchen, before wrapping her hand into a ponytail and going to the sink to wash her hands.

Stefan was busy making sandwiches to quell her hunger—thanks to her dinner being cut short—and she was happily watching, as he prepared the flat press to cook them.

Stefan had been there—as promised—when she got home to take his brother out of the car and get him to the couch. Damon was completely unconscious—but thankfully breathing—the whole way, though, so he didn't even bat an eyelid when he helped him in and set him down; waste basket nearby, just in case something ugly came up.

Stefan internally smiled at the ingenuity of it all.

"You act like you're a much better cook than I am; it doesn't take a rocket scientist to make a Panini," she teased, breaking his thoughts, and Stefan scoffed playfully. "Besides… _you _didn't get an A+ but _I _did anyway, so your theory is completely invalid. Professor Levesque just didn't like you."

"Who knows why," Stefan answered, as he topped the first sandwich and bunched his brows. "My papers were always so compelling. So _thoughtful. _So—"

"Boring," Bonnie blurted as she popped a chip from the plastic bowl into her mouth. "You never took any risks. You played it safe, every single time."

Stefan's emerald eyes met hers in a deep stare before he shrugged lightly and placed her sandwich on the press.

"And how do you suppose I take 'risks,' Bonnie? I'm an English teacher, not Howard Stern."

"Well, for one, you can tell me just what the _hell _is going on with you and Elena," she winked before biting into another chip. "You were hanging out with her, alone, _again_… You seem to be getting close."

Stefan didn't say anything as he thought about his time with Elena that night. The girl had been avoiding Bonnie because of her guilt with going through with this plan, and he had been forced to take all executive control over things, with the first being a campaign to drug his own brother.

Elena opposed it, of course, but he didn't exactly care what she thought.

The only thing that mattered was that she wasn't jumping ship, and he had made sure of that tonight—_three times over_—by screwing her lonely soul senseless until she vowed to keep her mouth shut.

It seemed to work at this point; Elena didn't tell anybody.

"We're just friends," he said and Bonnie smirked at that. "Don't give me that look."

"You like her, I know it. You've been all _distracted _lately, and I know it's because of a girl. It always is," she said wisely, as Stefan removed her sandwich from the press and carefully placed it onto a ceramic plate.

Maybe if he just stopped answering her, she wouldn't have enough reason to realize that his face was as hot as her Panini.

"She's interesting," he finally said, as he sliced the knife through the bread and Bonnie headed to the refrigerator to pour drinks. "But it won't anywhere. I'm into somebody else," Stefan added surprisingly and Bonnie smiled happily as he slid her plate towards her.

"Really? Have I met her? Have you told her?"

"No, not yet," he said simply, only responding to the second question. "I'm still feeling it out—figuring out what it all means."

Bonnie gleamed as she met Stefan's eyes and offered an encouraging grin. Stefan had always been the shy one when it came to women and she was more than excited that he may have actually been into someone, finally. She tried many times to set him up on dates over the years but it ultimately failed because he was just so goddamn picky.

She was beginning to believe he was asexual.

"Well, good for you," she announced, as Stefan bit into his sandwich. "Just don't take too long to get married—I don't wanna have wrinkles in the pictures."

Stefan smiled softly before his eyes immediately dejected to Bonnie's ring finger that he noticed was still empty, and back up to her shining eyes.

"Speaking of _marriage…_ You're still not wearing your ring," he observed, and Bonnie suddenly looked down at her bare hand and her eyes dulled. "I'm surprised Damon hasn't gotten you to put it back on," he said lightly, though a hint of bitterness trailed in his voice.

Bonnie shrugged this time, though the look in her eyes was less than nonchalance before she looked directly to him once more.

She hadn't been wearing her wedding ring since the night at the hospital when she freaked out and threw it in Damon's face, and he hadn't asked her to. She wasn't sure whether or not she appreciated the lack of the fight about it.

After all, she _was _still married to him in the technical sense of the word, though she just didn't _feel _like it right now, as she was getting to know him again.

Should she have been wearing her ring? Did it hurt Damon that she _wasn't?_

Bonnie rubbed her bare ring finger and pressed her lips.

Something about it felt strangely numb; emphatically _empty. _

"He hasn't asked," she informed, before taking another bite and swallowing slowly to regain her thoughts. "We kind of talk around it—around everything that happened, before the accident," she revealed.

Stefan chewed lightly at the information before shaking his head at that.

"Doesn't sound like… much of a _marriage_, Bonnie."

"Well, we're technically _dating _I guess. Or we were trying," she forged a hopeful smile that faded quickly as she remembered the events that transpired tonight. "Maybe we'll talk about it when he wakes up?" she asked.

"Yeah, maybe," Stefan said cryptically and Bonnie's gaze narrowed. "Maybe you'll… talk."

Bonnie chewed the inside of her mouth as she placed her sandwich down and folded her arms over her chest. She and Stefan stared at one another for an unparalleled minute as she just took in the unspoken concern in his eyes and he read the obvious insecurity in hers.

It had been something that they did often as friends; they presented things to one another with just their _looks _and Bonnie had grown to observant when Stefan didn't say something but he was obviously _feeling _it. It was his way of telling her that perhaps he had some information to share that she may not have wanted to hear but it was important, anyhow.

It was _always _important.

"What do you know that I don't?" she sighed as Stefan took a sip of his drink, with eyes fixed on hers. "What are you not saying?"

Stefan pushed forward his best look of concern before placing his drink down on the counter and advancing toward Bonnie with a slow but definitive speed. When he stopped before her, her arms tightened at her chest even more before he could open his mouth and lower his voice to a barely audible setting.

_Just in case._

"I'm not telling you to give up on him," he said, as her olive eyes followed his. "But I _am _telling you to be careful… He may be your husband, Bonnie, but he was my brother first, and I _know _Damon… A lot more than you probably ever will. And I just don't want you to get hurt chasing the ghost of what you guys used to be."

It felt like Bonnie gulped down a handful of rocks as she continued to look into the seriousness in Stefan's eyes.

It was enough to shake her down to her core.

"So you think I should take it slow?" Bonnie asked, as she recalled Elena's retelling of the story of she and Damon's engagement and then marriage.

It had all happened to swiftly; and in retrospect, it was almost as if she'd married a complete _stranger, _when she thought about it.

Was she just destined to rush into it again, with this guy that she hardly even knew, another time around?

_Was she destined for the same ill-fated mistake twice?_

Before Stefan could say anything, they heard slow footsteps approaching the kitchen, to which he cleared his throat and she systematically turned towards the doorway.

When Damon walked in—ruffled dark hair, and a look of fatigue to match, Bonnie breathed easily that he hadn't heard a bit of their conversation.

She just didn't need that kind of drama tonight.

Damon looked between Stefan and Bonnie silently before he made his way over to the refrigerator and grabbed the water pitched and a glass from the cabinet as well. An eerie quiet took over the place as only the sounds of the liquid filling the glass filtered throughout the air, and then the hum of Damon gulping down the entire thing before immediately going for another.

He was fucking _parched._

"Guess I'm late to the sandwich party," Damon noted as he observed the food and he shook his head in confusion before speaking again. "How did I even get here? Last I remember, we were at Giorgio's."

Bonnie licked her teeth before taking her plate over to the pail and emptying it, before placing it in the sink.

Suddenly, she wasn't so hungry.

"I drove," she said a bit more sharply than she intended as his eyes widened. "It's not a big deal Damon. You were… messed up, and we needed to get home. Stefan met me here to help with you afterwards," she revealed.

Damon's brows furrowed as he stared at Bonnie silently.

He _what?_

"I—didn't drink that much," he said, to which Stefan cut in.

"Maybe you did and you just don't remember?" he asked, as Damon licked his lips and sighed. "Look, all that matters is that you're here and you're both safe. I came by to keep Bon company until you woke up. I needed to make sure that you were okay."

"I'm fine," Damon lied, as his head throbbed and his eyes stained with each and every look. "No need to worry anymore, Super Stef. You don't have to stay any longer."

Stefan nodded as he made his way to the pail and threw out his garbage. He finished cleaning up swiftly before casually waving them both off and exiting the house with no more than three words.

The uncomfortable quiet settled into the kitchen once again when they finally heard Stefan's car speed away, and Damon placed his hands at his sides before spinning around to face Bonnie.

She was stone-faced but shy as she gazed at him as well.

Damon cleared his throat before speaking gruffly.

"What happened?" he asked and Bonnie shrugged her shoulders in response.

It did nothing to ease the tensions.

"I don't know, Damon—you had a few drinks, you passed out… Stefan came over to help me. Everything's okay now," she nodded before turning to walk away but Damon grabbed her by the wrist to stop her.

Bonnie looked up to meet his eyes and they were filled with such genuine apology that it almost overwhelmed. She breathed deeply.

"I'm sorry I—ruined tonight," Damon said and Bonnie's jaw ticked. "I don't know how I did it, but I… thank you, for everything, Bonnie. I mean that," he forced out.

Bonnie didn't say a word as his blue eyes blinked softly and quickly filled with regret the longer she remained unmoved.

She wouldn't say that she was mad at him, however it was definitely disheartening that a night with so much potential had gone so _wrong_, just like that.

Things had been ruined at the drop of a hat and sadly, his apology couldn't fix that.

"I'm not mad, Damon," she said as he listened attentively. "I'm just… I'm disappointed. I mean—I didn't know what to expect when we went out but I didn't think I was going to have to get over my phobia of driving in five minutes flat and take us home," she vented honestly. "I was counting on you. And you just—"

"Failed?" he filled in, as her eyes softened. "I failed you, _again, _Bonnie."

Bonnie bit her lip but she didn't reply. What else could she possibly say about not only being disappointed but completely let down, simply because she expected so much more from this stranger?

Perhaps she expected too much?

When Damon made a move to walk away this time, Bonnie was the one to stop him, when her hand touched his. Damon looked up slowly from the ground and into her eyes, as her fingers wrapped around his warm skin, and she breathed in before parting her lips to say what was on her mind.

_He was completely and totally prepared for her to rip him a new one._

Only she didn't; not this time, anyway.

Her fingers slid into his and Damon's breathing stopped as the tightened surely—_confidently_—and her eyes never dropped while they studied his.

He never knew that simply touching someone's _hand_ could make him feel this much. He should have known better when he realized it was only her, though; it was always only going to be _her._

"Does it bother you that I don't wear my ring?" Bonnie asked, and Damon was caught off guard instantly at the question the minute it settled onto his ears. "Be honest—does it… upset you?"

Damon took a moment to think before finally nodding his head and meeting her eyes.

"It does," he admitted, much to his own dismay. "And it's not because I think it makes us 'less married,' or because I to hold onto something that we're trying to get back, but I… that ring reminds me of my mother, Bonnie. And when you wore it, it reminded me every day that I filled the gap—the gaping _hole—_that was there after she was gone. I reminded me that I got one thing right."

"And I appreciate your honesty, Damon," she said.

"But?... Go on; tell me what you feel," he urged and Bonnie sighed.

"I can't wear that ring, Damon, not knowing who you are—what we _are_—and all that we had," she admitted honestly. "And I don't want to hurt you because I _want _to wear it—I do—but I just… I need you to _earn _that, again. I need to know that we're not just jumping headfirst into all of this because we did it before, and I want you to make your mom proud; proud of the man that I _believe _that you can be for me, if you try to fix this."

"And I will fix this, Bonnie—I _have to_—"

"Then _show me_," she answered bluntly. "Because I know that you think that you've failed, but what else do you feel? Do you feel strong enough to dust yourself off and try one more time? Because I _do; _and I want—"

Bonnie's words were stopped when Damon pressed his lips against hers so tenderly, she barely knew if this was _actually _happening or if she had been imagining the entire thing.

She realized it wasn't a fantasy but _true life_ when his strong hands cupped her cheeks and pulled her in tightly; deepening the kiss and the embrace, as she shut her eyes and let herself fall victim to his charm.

The charm she'd been _waiting _for him to unleash and take her over, already.

She'd waited to _feel _the reason why she married Damon Salvatore. And now, she could firmly say she was just getting a taste of it.

As Damon's mouth pressed against hers, continuously, and her back pressed to the counter, she felt her face turn to flush the minute his hands slid down her sides and firmly held her in place.

She may not have remembered _him, _but she remembered loving a man a knew how to take control.

Damon slid his tongue across hers, and Bonnie felt the passion-filled kiss coming to an end when their lips parted slowly, and his hand nestled against her neck.

The only sounds she could hear were her own expels of breath from as she tried to regain consciousness. She blushed lightly when his finger tipped her chin and he brought her gaze up towards his.

Damon's lips hinted at something similar to a smile. He sobered when he caught wind of her maddening expression.

"I should have asked, I guess," he replied lightly, as Bonnie didn't say a word. "But the Bonnie _I _remember used to love that; she loved when I took charge."

Bonnie didn't smile but she remained thoroughly impressed as she relived the feeling of his lips against hers—wrapping so deeply into her senses, and cutting right down to her core.

Hell _yes _she liked that feeling.

And though she vowed to wanting to take things "slow" this time around, that didn't mean moving the way turtles did. If Damon was going to man up and kiss her more often, she wasn't going to protest it.

She was just going to make him earn it.

"What else… did she like?" she asked gently and Damon smirked this time.

"It'd be way too soon to show you all of _that_."

"So show me the basics," she challenged, as his brow rose. "Show me what you did to make not be able to stop thinking about you."

Damon hesitated for a second—unsure of whether or not this was a _real _challenge—until finally, the look in Bonnie's eyes solidified it for her.

She was being completely serious.

"Well," Damon started, as he trailed his fingers carefully down the sides of her arms, until they rested upon her frame, while his thumbs stroked her ribcage. "She liked that—she liked feeling… _every _single hair on her body stand up, each time that you touched her," he said gently.

Bonnie didn't move as her eyes remained locked on his all the while.

Damon's hands slid even lower—commandingly, yet cautiously—to the back of her thighs, just beneath the trim of her dress, and she just her eyes as she felt his fingers trail small circles against her smooth legs when he moved in closer—nearly crushing the proximity of space between them.

"She liked when I touched her legs—especially the back of them. Though you can imagine it's as tough as _anything _to keep my hands just there," he admitted and Bonnie licked her lips.

"_Right."_

Bonnie felt her stomach tighten up when Damon leaned in and hands cradled her lower back—pulling her closer and closer towards him as her eyes remained shut and she recognized the light scruff of his face against her ear.

She nearly crumbled to pieces when his lips pressed to it softly.

"She liked me whisper things, usually," he said in a low velvet tone that resonated throughout her head. "Sometimes sexy things, sometimes funny things… but mostly thoughtful things—like about how stunning I think you look tonight," Damon said.

Bonnie's eyes reopened at that, and she felt Damon gulp slowly, though he didn't take it back.

She smiled out of the aim of his eyes.

"Is that what you tell all the girls?"

"I didn't marry 'all the girls,'" he said in response.

_Touche._

Damon leaned back to look at her again and this time Bonnie leaned in and planted a soft kiss to his cheek. He smiled when her lips parted from his face and Bonnie released herself from within his grasps and began to make her way out of the kitchen.

His words stopped her before she left.

"What was that for?" he asked as Bonnie knelt down briefly to grab her heels and he shamelessly watched her frame all the while.

He was convinced she knew it too, as she was slow to rise and turn, before their eyes met again and she offered a simple but striking stare.

His heart positively skipped a beat.

"It's incentive for next time," she said, as his brow rose and she slowly backed her way towards the exit. "Maybe if you earn it, I'll be the one to kiss you this time."

Damon snorted at that as he straightened his tie and met her shining eyes.

"I could always just kiss _you_, you know. The Old Bonnie likes when I take control, remember?"

Bonnie shrugged at that as her hand touched the swinging door and she cocked her head.

"And the _New _Bonnie would like to be the one in control. Which means you probably shouldn't even think about _touching _her until a) you've earned it, and b) she makes the first move, next time. Got it?"

Damon remained quiet but intrigued by the new philosophy that Bonnie was suddenly bringing forward. It wasn't that Bonnie before wasn't into taking charge sometimes, but she'd left it almost entirely up to him to be the one to put the moves on her. How would things change now with the tables turned?"

"Is that your game?" Damon asked, as she prepared to walk out again and he tucked his hands into his pockets. "Do you think it'll actually _work, _trying to screw me up in the head?" he challenged.

Bonnie didn't turn around, as she merely looked over her shoulder and smiled.

That smile reminded him of all the filthy things he _would _have done to her had they not been taking things "slow" and starting over.

"Screwing you up in the head is how I got you to marry me, isn't it?" she asked rhetorically before she exited the kitchen and he let out a short laugh before he scratched his hair and bit his tongue.

_That was _exactly _how she had done it._

XXXXX

A/N: Hey everyone! So I have been MIA for a bit but never fear, I'm back! Work has just been craaaaaazy for me and I was also trying to write the absolute perfect chapter so forgive me and my scarce updates, etc. etc. etc. What did you all think of the chapter, from Damon's flashback in the beginning, to the disaster of a first date, Stefan's sabotage and manipulation, and then surprisingly, Bonnie turning the tables on Damon? I hope I'm not rushing through this but I also don't want things to be too stagnant for too long. What do you think will happen next? I can promise some good and some bad, though I will not say which will outweigh which. You'll just have to keep reading. ;) As always, THANK YOU for your kind words and all of the things that you guys say. I know it's tough right now for me and a bunch of other Bamon fanfic writers pushing on after the show continues to barrel down on us, but you guys seriously keep us going with your comments and reviews. Don't ever change! I love you all and until next time, my dears. xoxo


	5. Love Without Tragedy

**Love Without Tragedy**

"_We don't play ball for a little bit and you lose all hand-eye coordination that you used to have? That's pretty embarrassing, man."_

Damon playfully rolled his eyes as he crossed in front of the adversary and faithfully missed his next lay-up—just like he knew that he would—before letting the basketball bounce away on the blacktop court and plopping down hard on the ground.

He grabbed his water bottle and squirted a bit into his mouth before he then doused the liquid over his head and smoothed back his jet black hair—feeling the Virginia sun rays instantly drying him off at the blink of an eye.

_It had been entirely too long since he last worked out. Starting a game of pick-up basketball on his random day off wasn't the best idea considering he'd been borderline _pathetic_ in the first place, and only worse now that he was so out of shape._

"I'll get back into the swing of things," Damon said confidently, as he blinked his eyes up at the afternoon sun and smirked. "And when I do—I'm going to kick all of your asses."

"Doubt it," Connor Jordan replied, at the same time that Klaus Mikaelson scoffed in response.

"Not a chance mate. Excuse my French, but you suck," Klaus added and Damon frowned as he heard Mason Lockwood's laughter come up from the background and he narrowed his eyes at him.

"Sorry," Mason grinned. "But you have to admit… it's been a while, for you."

And that it had been.

Between traveling across the globe as an accountant and now, his situation with Bonnie, Damon had been a very absent member from his circle and it'd taken a toll on him more than he knew.

Sometimes, a guy just _needed _a day like this with his friends to make everything alright and he should have known better than to avoid them all back when Bonnie had been seemingly filing for divorce and then had gotten into the accident.

Klaus, Connor, and Mason had been his allies—the ones he latched onto since moving to Mystic Falls, and though he felt like he had a lot of catching up to do in the friend department, he figured there was no time better than now.

It had been two weeks since their "date gone awry" and Bonnie was finally and officially back to work, fully recovered from all of her injuries.

As for him? His job was granting him an extended stay at the main office in Richmond, rather than having to travel back to Dubai or London or elsewhere, because of his circumstances. Ie; marital therapy, and having to care for his wife after she was in a near fatal car accident that rocked the entire town.

When it came to actually _asking _permission to stay, he had Mason to thank for that; after all, he was working for his uncle, Richard Lockwood, and Mason had been the one who was bold enough to go to the man and plead Damon's case.

In the end, Richard couldn't deny his top accountant the courtesy of being able to stay home for a bit to work on his marriage; however, Damon was sure that this meant that he owed the man _ten times over _the next time he asked for anything and he was anxious as he awaited what Richard would collect.

Things were never easy working for a man like that.

Damon was seared out of his thoughts when the ball bounced in his direction and he looked up to see Connor's stare revealing that he was behind it.

"What?" Damon asked.

"What do you think?" Connor asked, as though he were repeating his question again. "What ulterior motives does Rich have for giving us the day off today? He closed all of the offices and Mason hasn't heard from him since this morning."

Damon furrowed his brows at his boss' behavior before simply shrugging his shoulders and smiling.

"Maybe he's finally getting some from Carol," he winked. "I know she's the _mayor _and all so that probably means time restrictions… And time restrictions mean _not _getting laid," he reasoned as Klaus scoffed at that.

"Well Damon, I seem to remember the fact that _you're _also a married man but you're not getting laid either… even with _all _of the time in the world on your hands, now," he said.

Connor and Mason laughed as Damon shook his head and smoothed back his hair.

Busting his chops, as usual. He should have expected so much.

"Okay one: it's _entirely _too soon for that again and I don't actually _count_—my wife almost died. And then lost _all _of her memory, remember?"

"Maybe you can jog her memory _in_ the sack then?" Connor asked playfully as Damon narrowed his eyes. "Some scented candles, a little R&B, some KY—"

"Don't even continue," Damon held up a hand and Connor grinned in his direction. "I get what _all _of you horn dogs are saying, and yes—I would _very much _like to have sex with my wife—I haven't in about… _four months, _since Dubai," Damon realized and he watched all of the painful expressions on their faces resurface before he shook his head and cut in again. "_However, _think with your brains and not your penises, for once… I've gotta get to _know _her again; Bonnie and I are on a reset _entirely _back to the start and I don't wanna screw it up," he said seriously. "I _can't._"

"_Well, then I guess I came at the _perfect _time to save your ass, just like I usually do," _he heard.

Damon looked up as a slender bodied blonde, clad in a gray a-line dress with bold red heels making her way onto the court with such a determination, he wasn't sure if she was going to greet or kill them all.

When she stopped before them, she cocked her head and offered a perky smile.

_That was just like her, honestly._

"What are you doing here, Blondie?" Damon asked as he looked up at Caroline Forbes, before he rose to his feet. "Did you get lost on your way to _Neiman Marcus_?"

"Don't be a sexist," she warned with a pointed and manicured finger, "Or stupid… I stopped there this morning," she grinned and he rolled his eyes.

"What's going on then? I hope you're not here to lecture me in front of my friends."

It was Caroline's turn to roll her eyes this time before she peeked her head around Damon and offered a quick smile to Mason, Connor, and Klaus before reaching into her bag and fishing out four cards that were neatly wrapped with a red bow.

"Don't be silly, Damon—you already lectured them _yourself _on the art in thinking with your brain as opposed to your dick. I heard everything," she said as his face flushed. "_I'm_ here to give you all invitations to my event tonight," she said, as she passed them to each of the four and then turned back to face him. "You remember Elijah Mikaelson? The doctor who—"

"Helped me with Bonnie, yes," Damon interrupted. "What about him?"

"Well, _he _is having a book launch tonight, at the Mystic Falls Country Club and I think that it would be fun if you all came and showed your support. Especially from you, Klaus—considering the fact that you two are estranged _family _and all," she said as the man rolled his eyes. "I need this thing to go well, so I figured I'd invite people that deem themselves…_fun,_" she smiled and Damon snorted.

"You're kidding, right?"

"Stop being an asshole and just come, okay?" she said sternly, as she nudged his chest. "It starts at 7 and it is black tie only. Free everything—all you have to do is show up. I don't know if Elena is coming she's grading. But Stefan is," Caroline replied, as she snapped her bag shut and Klaus smiled.

"Of course he is," he muttered and Damon seemed to be the only one who caught the offhanded comment as he turned to face him.

He quickly dismissed it in favor for handling the blonde's demands instead.

"Book launching parties aren't my thing," Damon said, as he recalled Bonnie bringing him to a few of them earlier on in their marriage. "They're always so stuffy."

"And this one won't be with me in charge," Caroline said proudly. "I promise. Just…be there. It'll mean a lot to Bonnie. If you really think that you have any shot at a reset with her, then your ass better be there in a suit, no questions asked. Okay?"

Damon didn't say another word as Caroline looked down at her Michael Kors watch and clapped her hands firmly with a wide-eyed expression on her face.

"I have a party to continue planning," she said as she began to trot off just as quickly as she had appeared. "Hope to see you all tonight!" she called over her shoulder as she made her way off the court and back to her car.

Damon turned to face his three friends who were shamelessly watching Caroline as she walked away and he snapped his fingers to gain their attention from the blatant trance.

They all turned to face him simultaneously.

"Quit while you're ahead," he stated. "Caroline isn't interested in accountants… The girl has dated more socialites than I can even count," Damon replied.

"Figures, then, that she's in charge of planning my dear cousin Elijah's party then—he's obviously already got his grubby paws sinked into her," Klaus said.

"I'd sink more than just my _paws _into Caroline," Mason winked and Connor laughed as Damon's nose turned with disgust.

"Enough," Damon said as he shook his head. "Look, you can all go to the party if you wanna oogle Caroline but I'm not… I think I'm gonna pass on this one."

"You're joking," Connor said as he met Damon's eyes. "What happened to all that talk about having to get to know her _again? _You realize this party is being co-run by Bonnie's job, who is _publishing_ his book—you _kind of _have to go."

"That's the reason I _shouldn't _go," Damon countered with wide eyes. "It'll be too much pressure on our…_relationship _to act like the married couple her co-workers all knew us to be," he replied. "It's gonna be weird and I'd rather start things a bit slower instead of in front of the entire town to see. Besides… how do you tell people you're _dating _your wife?" he asked.

"You don't, 'cause it isn't any of their business," Mason said, as he picked up his towel and placed his around his shoulders. "At the end of the day, Damon, whatever's going on with you and Bonnie is _your _business. Why do you care what anyone else thinks? It's not like we're gonna tell anyone what's really going on. You don't have to either."

Damon turned his glance to Connor and Klaus who both seemed to be in silent agreement with Mason, just by the looks on their faces.

They were right; it wasn't like anybody outside of the doctors or their closest friends and family knew that Bonnie had lost each and every memory she had of Damon. And even if they did-why _would _he even care about what other people thought about him and Bonnie anyway? What was going on between them should have been their business, and their business alone.

He'd married _her_; not the entire town of Mystic Falls, right?

Damon crossed his arms over his chest and he felt Mason give him a firm pat on the back before he grabbed his Nike bag and threw it over his shoulder. His blue eyes gleamed all the while.

"So you guys are _all _coming tonight?" Damon asked and Mason shook his head as well as Connor.

Damon scoffed.

"No can do, man. I promised my nephew Tyler we'd go out on the town and do a little bonding. He and his girlfriend Hayley broke up-_again_—and it is now my obligation and duty to be his wingman for the night."

"Alright fine, and what about you?" Damon turned to Connor. "Hot date with that chick in the investment department that you've been trying to bang?"

Connor laughed as he as he grabbed his things and offered a quick shrug in response.

"More like hot date with Grandma's _chili; _she and my Grandpa are in town tonight and it's gonna be a regular old reunion at my place. I can't miss it."

"Fine. Tell Lorraine and Charlie I said hi. And you better save us some fucking chili," Damon replied.

"Will do, you big baby," Connor smiled as he gave both Damon and Klaus a quick nod as he exited the court as well and made his way over to his car.

Damon turned to Klaus, who was staring at him silently before they both heard Mason and Connor's cars speed away and Damon cleared his throat.

"So it's just you and me, tonight," Damon said and Klaus pursed his lips. "Oh, come on—don't tell me that you're bailing, too."

"I hate my family," Klaus said bluntly. "I really hate them all."

"All the more reason to crash their party then!" Damon urged as Klaus rolled his eyes and licked his lips. "They're your _blood, _man—"

"Sure they are. But pardon me for being the _realistic _one between us two who isn't so naïve to just believe that being related to someone automatically makes them a good person," Klaus said and Damon's eyes narrowed. "Some of us are willing to admit that the people we call our 'family' have their shortcomings… Your family isn't always _good_ for you, Damon."

Damon ticked his jaw as his eyes met Klaus' crystal blue ones and he shook his head.

He should have known that this was coming.

"So _that's _what was that before?" he asked without preamble, as the Englishman picked up his sport bag and slung it over his shoulder. "That thing you said about Stefan… What exactly did you mean by that?" Damon asked and Klaus narrowed his eyes.

"Exactly what it meant, Damon. Saint Stefan—your _darling _and _perfect _brother; always there when you need him… Always there for your _wife_, too," he replied.

Damon folded his arms. He may have listened to Klaus _every _other time, but not when it came to this—not when it was about Stefan.

"Stefan and Bonnie are _best friends_; they have been, for a while now… It's how they both are, Klaus," he dismissed. "Don't plant that seed."

Klaus didn't say a word as he soaked up the silence between them before rifling his sandy blonde hair and staring into Damon's big blue eyes.

"I'm not planting any seeds but merely stating the facts… I believe it truly takes all of the trust in the world to be able to be the way that you are with your brother… So… _confident _that will remain a good influence on Bonnie."

Damon's brows furrowed and he placed his hands at his hips.

_What the hell was that supposed to mean?_

"She's helped him, Klaus—a lot, and if anything, I'm alright with how close they are because of that—because she's a good person for _him _to be around,"Damon replied.

And it was true; despite how annoying his brother could be on any given day, Bonnie was important to him and a part of the healing process he had gone through. And as much as his jealousy may have drove him mad in the beginning of it all, it didn't anymore. Bonnie and Stefan were friends, and would _only _ever be _friends; _he had nothing to worry about.

It was actually the least of his fears.

"You can't blame me for being concerned," Klaus replied starkly as he looked into Damon's eyes honestly and pressed his lips into a thin line. "I… trusted my cousin, Elijah, with the woman that I loved and he betrayed me. And he didn't even think twice about it."

Damon inhaled a deep breath as he remembered the story that Klaus told to him one day, shortly after taking a work trip with each other to Klaus' original home in London, where they bonded over shots of Jack Daniels and glasses of straight whisky.

Elijah had gotten a bit too close for comfort with Klaus' wife-to-be, Katherine Pierce, and it wasn't too long before Klaus found them together in bed, after arriving home a few days early from a business trip in Italy.

Needless to say, the engagement was off and he and Katherine were over, but his strife didn't exactly end there.

Elijah actually moved into Mystic Falls _and _continued his relationship with Katherine, as if nothing had happened, causing a major rift between the two and their families who—shockingly enough—took Elijah's side in the entire debacle.

Their reasons? "_They didn't see Katherine as a good fit for Klaus, anyway."_

And it was as simple as that.

It was years later, and Katherine was long gone out of Elijah's life, but Klaus still held onto grudge anyway. And Damon couldn't say that he blamed him; being hurt by your family that way was probably pretty traumatizing. And Klaus considered himself to be someone with _no family, _until the day that he met Damon.

It was really, actually very _tragic._

"I trust Stefan," Damon said as he grabbed his stuff and the two began to walk over towards their cars. "And until he gives me a reason _not _to trust him, your tales from the crypt about your cousin Elijah won't change my mind. I don't blame you for looking out for me, Klaus but—"

"You think I should get over it," Klaus said plainly and Damon's lips pursed as he looked into his eyes. "Right?"

"I think you should consider coming tonight so that your best friend won't have to sip champagne and eat caviar all by his lonesome," Damon grinned and Klaus returned a weak smile before closing his trunk and shaking his head.

"I think that I'm going to pass. But have fun. Wave hello to all the Mikaelson's for me," he said.

Damon sighed as he watched Klaus get into his BMW and drive off without another word between them. He got into his car as well and turned on his engine; just staring at the wheel for a moment as he contemplated the pros and cons of swallowing his pride and just going to this thing, like Caroline was so deeply urging him to.

He pulled out his cell phone; glancing down at the words that Bonnie sent to him that morning, as he still lay sound asleep.

"_Work event tonight, so don't expect me back until late. Hope you have a great day."_

Bonnie was one very _big _pro. Quite possibly the only one."

XXXXX

"You didn't have to visit me after leaving work, Stefan. And you _definitely _didn't have to bring me a late lunch," Bonnie said, as Stefan sat across from her in the company cafeteria and she smiled while he set their Thai take-out on the table.

The food just _smelled _mouthwatering.

"Don't mention it," he said as he opened the bags. "You've been stuck here all day, going crazy for Elijah Mikaelson's event, who knows when you were going to actually eat… I figured you deserved some _Khao soi _for your troubles," Stefan winked and she grinned as he handed it to her. "Are you nervous about tonight?"

Bonnie took in a deep breath and nodded in affirmation when she met his shining green eyes.

She hadn't even been back here for a two weeks and she had already thrown herself deeply within the midst of her career again. She was anxious, but simultaneously _excited._

If tonight went well, it meant that she could breathe a bit easier until the next event _and _have a bit of a confidence boost going into it, as well. She didn't believe that she'd lost her touch when it came to being an art director, but she definitely had to get used to being a busy and working woman again.

_Thank god for moments like these where she could just _breathe.

"It'll be fine," Stefan said encouragingly, as he took a sip of his drink. "You've got a great staff; you've got _Caroline. _You know that she'll carry this thing to the moon and back."

"And I can't thank her enough for signing onto this," Bonnie said, as she twirled her noodles and shook her head. "I don't know what I'd do without her. She's been great… with _everything_."

There was a soft silence between the two before Stefan straightened up and cleared his throat. Bonnie looked up curiously as she waited for him to talk.

"Speaking of Caroline," he said, as he put down his drink and licked his lips. "She invited me, tonight… And I just wanted to make sure that was okay with you; that it wouldn't be too much of a pressure situation to have a friend there," Stefan replied.

"Of course I don't mind, Stefan, that would actually be great," she smiled. "Did she invite Elena, too?" she asked. "I haven't really spoken to her much. It kind of feels like she's avoiding me… But you'd probably know her RSVP status, right?" she joked and Stefan shrugged as he took a bite, though he completely knew what Elena's deal was.

Elena was a wimp.

"Beats me. Elena and I don't talk much anymore," he said and her face sullied. "She's been avoiding me too. I… think that she thought we'd have something more, and I guess it all just got lost in translation when it came to what our hanging out meant to me and what it meant to her," Stefan lied.

Bonnie frowned at that as she looped a noodle through her fork and offered a sympathetic glance.

"That sucks… I always thought you two would have been good together. You both love kids, you are _huge _book nerds—"

"You and I _both _love kids and are huge book nerds," he countered. "What's your point?"

Bonnie let out a soft laugh as she sat back into her seat.

She supposed he was right.

"I'll give her a call tomorrow," Bonnie said aloud, though she was mostly talking to herself. "Just to see how she's doing if she doesn't come tonight," she added and Stefan nodded. "Speaking of people being there tonight… What about Damon?... Do you think Caroline invited him? Should _I _have invited him?"

Stefan swallowed hard as he took a sip of his drink and licked his lips calculatingly.

"Do you _want _to invite him?" he asked and Bonnie exhaled a deep breath as she ran her fingers through her dark hair and smiled shyly.

"Our last date two weeks ago was kind of a _disaster _at the start, remember?" she asked and he nodded. "But after you left and we talked… he actually _kissed me_… and I really liked it," Bonnie revealed.

Stefan pursed his lips as he remained silent while Bonnie lingered within her thoughts.

Well he didn't see _that _coming.

"Have you two… kissed since then?" he asked carefully and Bonnie snorted.

"No, not at all; in fact—he's been a lot more cautious around me, lately. What, with my speech about wanting him to _earn _that, and also that _I _wanted to be the one making the first moves," she said. "Maybe I should—"she reached for her phone on the table and Stefan stopped her hand.

His stare met hers and she read the look in his eyes as the two sat in silence. Clearly he didn't think this was as good of an idea as she did.

"I was just gonna ask him if he had plans tonight," she said. "And then _maybe _mention that he could stop by the Mystic Falls Country Club around 7 P.M sharp-ish… Dressed in a suit," she eased as Stefan looked at her like she had five heads. "No pressure."

Stefan finally let go of Bonnie's hand and he breathed in deeply as he racked his brain for a possible and plausible reason as to why she shouldn't extend an invitation to his brother. He filtered past the obvious one of _just not wanting him there _and inhaled before talking.

Bonnie was all ears.

"Damon… _hated _going to your events when you two were married," Stefan spilled, easily recalling the times his brother texted him about being bored to tears at these book launches and signing parties.

Damon was a very social person and usually able to mask his dismay effortlessly, without a doubt. He sucked it up and did these things for _Bonnie, _because time was of the essence and when he wasn't abroad on some trip, he was only left with a short amount of time to spend with his wife.

And most of those times, she had publishing things going on.

Stefan remained quiet as he watched on with the cycle of Damon being gone for three to four months at a time for work, coming back, Bonnie being busy, and then the two trying to squeeze their new married life into about five days before the accountant had to jet set off again to his next location.

It made for a very strained marriage and a very lonely Bonnie. He'd watched them spiral out of love with each other firsthand and wondered just how two people thought it'd be possible to sustain a long distance relationship this way, when it seemed like they barely even _saw _one another.

Why would this time be any different, once Damon got back to his old ways and dedicated himself to his job?

Things wouldn't change, Stefan concluded. And that was the reason why he was doing this; Damon was the reason why Bonnie was hurt and he wouldn't let it happen again.

_He refused._

"He did?" Bonnie asked lightly, as she licked her tongue over her teeth and her eyes stayed on his. "But he seems so… full of life."

"Hence the reason why 'book shit,'" he quoted Damon, "isn't his cup of tea. He thinks it's boring… borderline unbearable."

Bonnie inhaled a long breath and didn't say a word.

Maybe she _wouldn't _invite Damon, then, if this just wasn't his thing. The last thing she wanted was for him to say yes out of obligation, if he really wasn't into it.

Had his fleeting sense of interest in _her _interests been one of the reasons she's tried to divorce him before this entire debacle even started?

Bonnie shook her head and away her thoughts.

She was thinking too much into this.

"I have to go to the country club," she said, as she looked at her watch and checked the time. "I promised Caroline I'd be there by five."

Stefan didn't say a word as he rose to his feet too and watched a now flustered Bonnie grabbing their trash from the table silently.

"Hey," he said gently, and his hand touched hers again.

Bonnie's eyes met his and the brilliant glint behind his own suddenly calmed her; made her feel a little less crazy when she felt his fingers brush and then tighten against hers.

His skin felt as smooth as his words.

"I'm here for you tonight, alright?" he said, with the hint of a soft smile behind his lips. "Some of us like being book nerds and think what you do is great… And even if I hated it, I _still _wouldn't miss it for the world… Because it's _you_ and you are… so much more awesome than you know."

Bonnie let out a soft laugh and tilted her head at the sincerity in his words.

It had been a skill of Stefan's since their days at Oberlin; knowing just what to say and what to do to make her feel better. When she panicked over the little things, he had been her rock and always there for her when she needed it.

And now, that her existence was _literally _the makings of a _Lifetime _movie, he was still here to make her feel better with each and every chance that he got.

If she were grateful for one thing with this accident, it had been that her memories of Stefan had never faded and remained fully intact.

She was happy that she had never, ever, lost her best friend.

Bonnie breathed in deeply as his fingers still caressed hers and she noted the feeling of peace that carried over her, the longer that he did.

"Thank you," she said lightly, as she looked down at their hands; slowly intertwining, and loosening, and then touching again—like some sort of inevitable cycle. "Thanks for everything," she said when their eyes met again.

Stefan smiled as he finally let go of her hand and grabbed the empty containers that sat on the table before them; not even leaving one for Bonnie to take care of.

He was just such a fucking gentleman sometimes.

"Don't mention it," Stefan grinned. "Now, go meet Caroline before she kills you… I'll see you tonight."

Bonnie nodded as she grabbed her things and made her way out of the cafeteria and Stefan carried the trays over to the garbage—dumping them easily before retrieving his phone and scrolling through his contacts until he stopped on the name he had been looking for.

He waited until he made his way back out to his car to dial the call and he started his engine as the vehicle picked up the Bluetooth immediately and he pulled out of the parking lot.

She answered on the third ring.

"_Stefan Salvatore, is that you?_" she asked and he laughed as he gripped his hands at the wheel and continued to drive forward. "_I thought you'd never call."_

"Why not? You're a cool girl and we get along well…Isn't that reason enough?"

"_Spare me the ass-kissing,_" she said and he smirked. _"What can I do for you today?"_

"It's not really what you can do for _me, _but what I can do for _you_," he said and he heard the girl shift in her seat on the other end of the call. "You going to Elijah's book launch tonight?"

"_Obviously. Are you?_"

"Of course," he answered. "Wanna go together? Not like a date, but… kind of. I know that you probably need a bit of arm candy and lucky for you, I'm looking for some as well."

The girl snorted before offering a response.

"_And why would I wanna go with you? You're not exactly the Salvatore I'm fascinated with,"_ she said and Stefan laughed. _"Did you forget all about my interest in your brother?"_

"I didn't forget, which is exactly why I'm calling _you _first," he said brightly. "Bonnie didn't invite him tonight, but her friend Caroline—"

"_I know Caroline,_" she said a bit bitterly and Stefan laughed.

Who didn't?

"Yeah, well, I'm positive that _she_ did invite him. Chances are he's going anyway, _but_ I was thinking that _maybe _an old friend from his trip to Dubai could give him a call… Explain that it would mean _so much _to her if he showed up."

The girl scoffed on the other end and Stefan licked his teeth as he made a turn towards his house.

"_What will it matter, Stefan? If he's already going, why should I invite him? Kind of defeats the purpose, doesn't it? Besides… Damon and I aren't exactly on great terms… I'm sure you know why."_

"I do, and I think it'll be all the more reason for him to show up—he won't want you anywhere _near _Bonnie without him being there. As for why it's important; don't you think it'll grate her nerves when she kind of overhears that he showed up because another woman asked him to? It makes perfect sense, actually."

There was a bout of silence between the two

"_I've already told you, Stefan—I'm not your little your friend Elena Gilbert. I won't be responsible for breaking up a happy marriage."_

"Well, then, you'll be ecstatic to hear that they _aren't _happy at all," he said. "Pick you up around 6:30?"

The girl didn't say anything for a few moments, as he was sure she was considering the validity of his plan, before she finally let out a deep breath and cleared her throat.

_That sounded like a yes._

"_Sure,"_ she relented and Stefan grinned. _"And I'll give Mr. Salvatore a call… Perhaps I'll have better luck this time around, right?"_

"You won't _need _luck… He liked you before and now, he has a clear opportunity, with his marriage basically in shambles. The odds couldn't be _more _in your favor," he said.

And they were _definitely_ in his, as well.

XXXX

Bonnie sucked in a huge stretch of air as she glanced down at her clipboard and then at the life size version of the book cover and breathed as her assistant set it into place.

"That's good, thank you," Bonnie nodded before she looked down at her watch and then around the estate.

It was nearly seven o'clock and the guests for the event were piling in already, donned in their designer dresses and suits, as they were met with glasses of champagne and filtered into the courtyard for the cocktail hour.

She'd watched as everyone from doctors, to lawyers, to politicians, to authors made their way in and she had to remind herself to breathe every so often.

She handed off her clipboard to another assistant, and made her way across the yard in her Louboutin heels, glancing every so often at the displays to make sure that they were all in order as planned.

She had been in charge of the visual elements regarding the launch when it came to tonight, and she knew better than everyone that "never judging a book by its cover" was a myth.

The cover was _everything _in this industry. And the better it looked, the more reason people had to pick up the book. Her work would be the first impression that they had when it came to Elijah, whether they read his words or not.

Her work mattered; almost as much as his.

Bonnie made her way into the club and to the bar just inside. She ordered a glass of water to calm her nerves and listened in on her walkie as Caroline barked orders at her staff and smiled.

Typical Caroline.

Bonnie thanked the bartender for the glass and immediately gulped it down, before she felt a beckoning presence behind her that forced her to turn around.

_Speaking of the devil._

"Hey, Mr. Mikaelson," she said, as she extended her hand to his politely. "Did you just get here? I haven't seen you all evening."

Elijah offered her a smooth smile before kissing the top of her hand and letting it go just as courteously. His brown eyes shimmered.

"No, I've been around," he said, as he signaled for a drink before turning to face her again. "Miss Forbes insisted that I stop by earlier to get a look at things; to make sure they were to my _liking_."

Bonnie smiled at that as she tucked a brown wave behind her ear, mentally imagining Caroline not-so-subtlety telling the man to get his ass there to see how things were, even though she knew they were perfect. Bonnie had a bit of an inkling that Caroline had a bit of a _crush _on the doctor, as well.

"Are they to your _liking_?" Bonnie smirked playfully. "And do you like the cover? It was a bit rushed when it came to pulling everything together and—"

"Bonnie, it's great," Elijah said with a smile and she answered with one as well. "This entire event is much more than I could have ever anticipated and I thank you, so much for being a part of it… Even if your husband's best friend might hate me."

"Damon has friends?" she joked, as she recalled hearing his squabble on the phone a few days ago with Klaus, as the two got into a heated debate about the New York Giants versus the New England Patriots.

Damon was still apparently a die-hard Giants fan, refusing to let go of his roots though he had long moved out of New York, and Klaus was arguing the validity of the Giants being the best team in the east, much to Damon's annoyance, because he was a Tom Brady fan boy.

She laughed when she remembered Damon putting him on speaker as he turned on his laptop to look up some facts and Klaus arguing each and every one of them with _"well, Tom is prettier than Eli."_

She remembered what Klaus was like for the most part, despite most of her memories of him probably being tied to the losses she sustained because of Damon, but she remembered him nonetheless.

And she was amazed that she was _just _putting two and two together, that he was related to Elijah.

What a small town this really was.

"Is he your brother?" she asked and Elijah shook his head.

"Cousin, actually. And thank the heavens for that; Klaus and I would have never survived one another living in the same household. Besides... my siblings Kol and Rebekah are enough to deal with," he said.

Bonnie couldn't say that she knew that feeling at all; she had no siblings and once her Grams died, she barely had any family.

Her friends had been it, for her. And then, Damon, she presumed.

It was getting harder and harder to pretend like there wasn't a gaping hole in her heart each and every time she thought about how she'd forgotten every single detail about what they had shared before.

It hurt especially that he wasn't here tonight, at her first real thing. She believed she was doing a good job at masking herself well, though. Especially once Stefan got here; she'd be fine.

"You and Damon… you haven't set your appointment with me, yet," Elijah recalled and Bonnie nodded shamefully as they began to walk away from the bar and she smoothed both her hands over her blue dress.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Mikaelson—"

"Elijah," he interrupted. "You can call me Elijah."

"Okay, Elijah," she continued. "I'm sorry I haven't called, but I just… between the marriage counselor and Damon and I just trying to get to know each other again, it's been a little difficult."

Elijah nodded in understanding as he opened the door back out to the courtyard and they continued to walk.

"And where is he tonight? Surely he'd want to be supportive of you and your endeavors," he said, as Bonnie let out a short laugh and shook her head.

"I didn't invite him, actually. I thought it'd be weird… And then I was going to, but apparently, this isn't his _thing…_ So I just… didn't."

Elijah stopped to gaze at her and she swallowed hard when his chestnut eyes blinked softly and he lowered them towards her and then behind her. Her brows furrowed at the motion.

"Maybe it _isn't _his thing. But a man in love will do whatever it takes to be loved in return."

Bonnie spun around to see Damon walking into the courtyard, dressed in an all-black Lanvin suit, with his hair gently slicked to the back and she had to try to stifle the smile that crossed her lips the minute their eyes met.

She'd never experienced the feeling that she had in the pit of her stomach that she had right now, before; that feeling that you got when you were just _really _happy to see someone that you weren't expecting.

_It also didn't help to quell her joy when that someone looked the way that he did, right now._

"I'm being called to the stage," Elijah said lightly, as he placed a hand on her shoulder and lowered his voice. "Enjoy the night."

"You too," she said lightly as she turned to face him. "Thank you… Elijah. For your words. I think I needed to hear them."

Elijah only smiled in return before he walked off with one of Caroline's crew members and Bonnie tuned back to face Damon and he steadily neared her with a dubious look on his face as he gestured towards his outfit.

She shook her head playfully.

"Black-tie only, right? Please tell me that I'm pulling this off."

Bonnie grinned when he stopped in front of her and she inhaled deeply before placing a hand on the tie and straightening it a bit. Damon smiled as he watched her adjusting it to her liking, before she patted it softly and met his eyes.

She was positively beaming.

"You look snazzy," she admitted and he smirked at that. "I didn't think you would come," she admitted. "I'm actually really surprised to see you."

"And why's that? Because _you_ didn't invite me personally?"

"That and… I guess I didn't think this was your sort of _thing_," she answered honestly as she tilted her head. "I don't know if you're much of a book guy."

Damon scoffed at that and moved in a bit closer. Bonnie bit her lip at the proximity.

"_Call of the Wild _by Jack London—that's my favorite book. And… we actually bonded on our first date because of that; because you told me it was _your_ favorite, too," Damon said as his finger tipped her chin and Bonnie bit back a smile as she studied his eyes.

She folded her arms as his eyes settled on her own before she nodded in agreement.

He was right; that _was _her favorite book. She'd just hadn't imagined it was actually his too, and one of the things they'd talk about before.

She was learning something new every day.

"Are you glad I came?" he asked with a wiggle to the brow as Bonnie's eyes remained on his. "Does this count towards me '_working for it'_?" he asked and she snorted in return.

"Yeah I guess," she said with a smirk as Damon eyed her continuously. "We'll see how the night plays out… Hopefully you don't drink too much, right?" she asked and Damon scoffed at that before holding up both hand defensively.

"It's gonna be water on the rocks for me tonight. Trust me—I've learned my lesson."

Bonnie laughed at that but before she had a chance to answer, they heard someone call Damon's name from a few feet away. They both turned around to see a woman with long blonde curls and slender legs shown off by her bright red dress approaching. Damon let out a deep exhale before the stranger wrapped him into a bear hug so tight Bonnie was surprised he didn't collapse right then and there.

She was practically held up almost entirely in _his arms._

Bonnie didn't say a word as the girl finally released her hold but not her eyes, as she beamed at Damon enthusiastically, with a smile that could light the way for a thousand miles.

Damon didn't look taken back by her presence, but he definitely knew Bonnie was, as he glanced over every so often to catch her eyes as she just watched on.

_Maybe he didn't come here for her, after all?_

"Rebekah, hey," Damon said softly. "What's going on?" he asked awkwardly, and the buxom blonde only smiled as she looked into his eyes and shrugged.

"Just coming in," she said. "I'm here with Stefan—I'm surprised you _actually _made it. I thought you were going to bail on us all when I called you," she said and he licked his teeth.

"Nah—no I'm here," he said, before gesturing to Bonnie and nodding. "And this is Bonnie... my _wife,_" he emphasized. "You two haven't met right?"

"No," the two women said in unison, and Bonnie bit her lip as she felt Rebekah studying her so closely, she might have mistaken her for a specimen beneath a petri dish.

"But it seems like you two have a _lot _of catching up to do, and I'm actually really busy so I'm gonna go," Bonnie added quickly as Damon frowned.

"Bonnie, wait—" Damon started but the girl was already off and immediately talking on her walkie, as if she hadn't missed a beat in her step at all.

As Bonnie began to walk away, Rebekah turned her attention back towards Damon and the man cracked his knuckles at that.

_Well this night was already shaping up to be a disaster._

"I've missed you and I'm really happy you could make it," Rebekah said lowly with a soft smile as she took his hand into hers.

"Like I said, _Caroline _would have killed me if I didn't show up… This is important to Bonnie," Damon said firmly as he slid his hand away from hers and stuffed them both into the pockets of his jacket.

He looked around immediately as his eyes scanned the area of the breathtaking country club.

_Where the hell was his brother and why wasn't he dealing with _his _date?_

"Damon, I—"Rebekah started and he rose a hand to stop her.

Her cherry lips formed a thin line.

"Tonight really isn't the right time… Tomorrow, and next week, and next _month _probably won't be too good either," he replied as he started to walk away and he was stopped by her hand to his chest.

His eyes met her fiery blue ones immediately.

"You're still unhappy, aren't you?" she asked straightforwardly and Damon's eyes widened as he pulled her aside and she scoffed as she ripped her arm away from his. "You and Bonnie aren't working out and you're just pretending that you're okay so you won't have to admit the truth," Rebekah said.

Damon exhaled a deep breath and shook his head. He wasn't playing this game; not tonight.

"Why are you asking me so many questions?" he asked in a lowered tone. "You said you just wanted to be _friends _Rebekah—and I said _that _was fine. Not this—not the third degree about my marriage that has _nothing _to do with you."

"Well, I lied—just like you lied; like you lie about _everything,_" she said with a hardened voice. "And I said I would leave you be if I saw that you were happy with her but you're not—you're not even _close_."

Damon inhaled a sharp breath of air and he looked away as Rebekah moved in closer and closed in on the space between them. She spoke in a gently whisper this time.

"Your marriage has _everything _to do with me," she said. "Does she even know what happened between us?" Rebekah asked, and Damon turned to face her this time with widened eyes as she peered into her own.

Damon shook his head.

"There isn't anything to tell her because you were _just _an intern, Rebekah. And whatever you _think _your place is in my relationship with _her, _I'm here to tell you that it's non-existent. Now, stay out of my life."

Damon began to walk away and he was stopped when her hand planted firmly against his chest. He remained stoic, though his blood was rising. He needed to find Bonnie and explain everything.

_He also needed to find Stefan and strangle him._

Damon breathed in as Rebekah's fingers trailed down his chest and she moved across his tie—she smoothed it out gently before locking his eyes into a gaze.

He prayed no one was watching; he didn't need one more thing to have to explain tonight.

"You talk a big game for somebody who has so many secrets," she said lightly. "_Especially _when I know every single one of them."

Rebekah finally dropped her hand and walked away; leaving the heat in Damon's blood at such a boiling point, he was sure his skin was just as red in color—set fittingly to match.

She was right; Damon was a man of many mysteries and secrets. He was definitely an open book, but also an enigma—wrapped all into one, big bundle of surprise and intrigue.

And sooner or later, he expected that to catch up to him; but he was in far too deep and seemingly at the end of his rope by the time he realized it all—_by the time he knew that he could lose it all._

Starting with her; starting with _Bonnie Bennett._

XXXXX

**A/N:** Hello, everyone! So I have been trying to be better at updating my stories, I hope I'm doing an okay job keeping you all intrigued with this one, because a lot happened in this chapter! I finally felt it was necessary to introduce Damon's friends and they—mostly Klaus—will play a big role in his life and the things that are to come. Next, Stefan and Bonnie; so his manipulations continue. I've been reading the reviews and I'm actually really happy that everyone hates Stefan, haha. He's my fave character on TVD but the show does a poor job of exploring how scary he can be sometimes and I hope that I will be able to get to that side of him in this story—he's really not going to be a great person, from here. Next, Damon and Bonnie! I'm sorry that they had a really short moment but I hope it was cute enough to sustain you until next chapter! There will be more of them, I promise. Elijah, Elijah… I've been trying to make him a bit of a mystery but you'll maybe understand him a bit more as the story goes on. Lastly—Rebekah, who saw her coming? And what do you think she has on Damon as far as all of his "secrets" go? Is she one of them?

As always, thank you all SO MUCH for reading my stories. I can't thank you enough for keeping the Bamon faith even after the show just basically stabbed us in the chest as far as S5 goes. I love writing so I don't want to quit on my stories or you guys. You deserve something for all the pain TVD has put us through! Leave your thoughts and reviews for what is to come next and I hope to update soon. Love you all, and take care! xo


	6. Two Way Street

**Two Way Street**

_If there were a way to measure his rage on a scale of one to ten, Damon figured he'd be at about a fifty, because he was seeing red._

Pure, unadulterated, _blood red._

As he moved through the courtyard with a fist at one side and his iPhone at the other, he bounced back and forth between the two courses of action that he so _desperately _needed to take.

Call Bonnie, find her, and _explain _himself _or _find Stefan and punch him in the face.

_The latter sounded like the option his body wanted to dismantle first, though his brain knew that the first was _so _much more important._

Bonnie was a _thousand _times more important than his appointment to kick his brother's ass.

So, regretfully, Damon unclenched his fist and let out a sigh as he took his phone into both hands and typed Bonnie a text message faster than the speed of light, in hopes that she's reply to it sometime this _century._

_Where are you?_

No answer, of course, as a minute or two rolled by and he ticked his jaw as he looked around.

It didn't help that this place was so fucking _huge _that it'd literally take him a _day _or two to find her, if he were lucky.

_He needed some help._

His prayers were answered in the form of a golden blonde with a pastel pink dress as he spotted Caroline from across the event, chatting to Elijah, with a smile as bright as day on her face.

_He'd apologize later for cockblocking her, he mentally recorded._

"Elijah hi, good to see you," he said quickly before turning the girl and clearing his throat. "Hey, got a minute?" Damon asked a bit breathlessly when he walked over and the girl's forehead wrinkled when she noticed the desperation and exhaust in his tone.

"Uhm, not really, Damon, what's up?" she asked. "Did you _run _here?" she added skeptically and Damon let out a bitter as he shrugged his shoulders in response.

"I might as well have."

Caroline's eyes narrowed as she looked into his and she politely excused herself from Elijah's side before walking with him to a quiet corner and placing both hands on her hips.

She needed answers _immediately._

"What's going on? What is so _urgent _that you decided that you needed my help _right now _during the middle of an event?" she whispered hotly. "Do you have _any idea _how nervous I am—"

"I can't find Bonnie," he blurted and she stopped talking almost instantly as she stared into his eyes and he cleared his throat to better explain himself. "I mean, she took off before and I really just need your help finding out where she is. Please."

Caroline pursed her lips as she studied Damon's gaze, before shaking her head in confusion.

"I-I'm sure she's around here, somewhere. I mean, she's planning all of this with me—"

"Then page her on your little walkie or _something,_ Caroline… because I need to talk to her. I have some things to say," Damon responded, with a bit of desperation in his voice.

Caroline sighed as she fixed her headset and then pressed the button for Bonnie's channel before speaking ever-so-clearly.

"Bonnie, come in," she said simply, as she looked into Damon's eyes; a small dash of her own hope disappearing when she received no answer. "Bonnie, it's me… Caroline. Can you hear me?"

She listened as the static on the other end started for a moment and then the line went dead, as Bonnie so obviously shut it off.

Caroline licked her lips as her blue eyes met Damon's and he knew even without her saying a word what it meant.

"Damon—" Caroline started and he shook his head as he began to walk away; only stopping to look at her once more before completely taking off.

"I'm sorry for uh—ruining your little moment with Elijah back there… Enjoy the rest of the night."

Caroline opened her mouth to speak, but Damon was already off, as he slipped both hands into his pockets and walked out of the courtyard and around to the entrance to the valet.

As he waited for his car, he felt his phone buzz with a message and he pulled it out to read the words that were displayed on the screen.

"_If I hear from Bonnie, I'll make sure she gives you a call," _Caroline wrote.

Damon inhaled a deep breath when he heard his car pulling up and he typed a quick message in response before climbing in.

"_Thanks, Blondie."_

XXXXX

Bonnie swallowed hard as she looked at her own reflection in the mirror before her; trembling as her fingers massaged her head and her hands coursed over her jaw.

If there was one word to describe the feeling that she had right now it was _rattled. _She was completely and totally distraught beyond belief.

_Clearly, _Damon had something going on with Rebekah Mikaelson that he hadn't told her about and just by the tone of his voice she expected the worse of it.

She just _knew _by the look of the girl's face what had happened. The sparkle in her eyes gave it away so much, it was impossible to miss.

The way Rebekah looked at Damon was the way _Bonnie _looked at him; at least it _felt _like it, anyway.

The goofy grin, the stifled laughs, the glimmering eyes—she had experienced _all _of that tonight and to be honest, it had been the closest she had been to uncovering what it really was that she had felt for Damon before the accident—before she forgot _everything._

She swallowed hard as she bit back the feeling in her stomach that threatened to erupt; the feeling that threatened to _consume _her, the longer she let her mind settle on it.

She actually _wanted _to love Damon, again. She _wanted _to feel all of those things she'd witnessed in her wedding and honeymoon pictures, as the two looked like the happiest people on the face of the planet when they were within one another's arms.

She _desperately needed _to feel the way that she had, once upon a time, not only for her sake, but for Damon's as well.

They'd had little progress and small victories, sure, but she could tell that it would be only a matter of time before Damon completely unraveled.

It could take weeks, months, _years, _even, but he would snap. He would get sick of this merry-go-round-love, and _he _would be the one to file for a divorce; citing the fact that he just couldn't love someone any more than they actually loved him.

Bonnie felt a tear rush out of her eye at that, before she quickly wiped it away.

She hoped—_prayed_—that someday, she'd be able to love Damon Salvatore the way that he so clearly _still _loved her. She wished that she could just _remember everything, _without a second thought, just so she could have something to offer him; something more than blank stares and empty nods anytime he accidentally brought up something that served as an inside joke between the two before he gently apologized for speaking too much, and then had to explain it to her in different terms.

_By then, the moment had always lost all of its novelty._

Bonnie blinked as tears lined her eyes and she jumped when she heard a knock on the door to the private bathroom before she turned on the faucet and glanced at herself again.

"Someone's in here," she said firmly and she listened as the footsteps didn't dissipate and the person on the other side sighed softly.

"_Bonnie, it's me," _Stefan said. _"Can I come in?"_

Bonnie turned off the water and wiped her eyes again; thankful that she had taken Caroline's advice and doubled up on the waterproof mascara, before she headed to the door and unlocked it—turning the knob ever so slowly.

When she opened up, Stefan was standing there, with his boyish stare and a sad look in his eyes before he walked in and locked the door behind her.

Bonnie retreated for the mirror again, as she took to fluffy her hair and smoothing out the imaginary wrinkles in her dress.

Stefan watched her all the while.

"I'm just freshening up," she said gently, without looking into his eyes. "What's up?"

Stefan remained quiet for a moment, as the only sounds in the elegant bathroom were Bonnie shuffling around before the vanity mirror, before finally, he took a step in her direction.

Bonnie looked over and noticed the distressed gleam in his eyes as he stared at her. Her heart immediately crumbled to pieces.

"I'm sorry," he said slowly, as her eyes narrowed and he shook his head softly. "I'm sorry I ruined your night."

"You didn't do anything, Stefan," she replied. "If anything, I should _thank _you for being here. I mean… I can't face Damon right now, and Caroline will just have so many questions, but you're… here. And I appreciate that," she said.

Stefan inhaled deeply as he took a seat on the counter in front of her. Bonnie folded her hands over her chest.

"I didn't know about Rebekah and Damon," he said as she looked into his eyes. "I mean—I knew that they _knew _each other, from Dubai. I heard a lot about her. I just… I never figured there was anything else to know. I didn't know things would be _that way_," he said.

Bonnie nodded at that as she tucked a strand behind her ear and looked off.

_It was now as obvious as day that things were "that way."_

"I shouldn't have come with her—"Stefan started and Bonnie stopped him with a hand.

"She would have been here anyway," she offered a feigned smile. "Elijah is her older brother. "It's not your fault she was here. And whatever _Damon _did; that's not your fault, either."

Stefan didn't say a word as Bonnie leaned against the counter and looked down.

It felt like there was a knot in her chest.

"I just—how could I be so stupid?" she asked, as she looked up and met his eyes, with water filling her own. "He's Damon Salvatore; a ladies man—a _player_," she laughed bitterly, as her fingers tightened at the ceramic sink. "The women at my job kept going _on and on _about him these past two weeks—as if he was some _celebrity. _They were _obsessed _with him. When women are _that invested _in a guy like him, it usually means something, right?" she asked as she blinked away her tears. "The way Rebekah _hugged him _and _looked at him_… it was like she was in love with him… Like he _gave her _a reason to feel that way," Bonnie said.

Stefan didn't say anything as Bonnie grabbed a handful of tissues and sniffled softly, though she was clearly on the edge of a major meltdown.

"I wanted it to work, Stefan—"

"Maybe it can," he said lightly. "Maybe he just needs another chance."

"To do what? Screw the woman at the coat check?" she asked brashly as she blew into a tissue. "I can work through forgetting us; having to find our way to love again… _Fighting for it because I somehow lived. _But cheating, Stefan? Why would I give him another shot? People cheat when they don't think that the person that they 'love' is an option for them, anymore… _I _was no longer an option. And you know what? That _hurts; _a _million _times more than me forgetting who he is… Because he _had _the choice, Stefan… I _didn't._"

Stefan ran his tongue over his lips before he pressed them into a thin line and shook his head.

"So what do you want to do, Bonnie?"

"I want to leave him," she nodded as she stared into Stefan's eyes and spoke with a strong voice. "I want to sign those papers and I want to get out of this while I still have the chance and my sanity," Bonnie added as she began to pace the ground. "I mean, _thank god _that I already _don't remember _him, right?" she laughed. "It'll be _that _much easier to just fucking move on."

Bonnie felt her body stop when Stefan grabbed her at the hands and pulled her in front of him quietly, while he stared into her olive eyes.

Bonnie's cheeks felt red with fever as he looked directly at her, and she shut her eyes softly when she felt him wipe away a few of her stray tears with his thumb.

"Just talk to him, Bonnie," Stefan said as her brow furrowed and she took in a deep breath. "I know your head is just _spinning _right now and you have every reason to be upset but… you're gonna regret it if you just do something without really thinking this through."

Bonnie let out an incredulous laugh as she shook her head and bit her lip.

"He didn't think it through when he was so obviously _screwing _her."

"Bonnie—"

"No, Stefan. I-I can't. I can't be that girl who takes a guy back after this. After he continually ruins her, again and again. The doctors said that I pushed him out of my mind for a _reason… _What if this was it? What if he told me all about her?"

"Then let him tell you that again," Stefan answered as she rose a brow. "Force my brother to man up and just tell you _everything, _so that if you do indeed decide to leave this, it'll be with a clear conscious and full mind. _Don't _rush this, okay?"

Bonnie breathed in as she stared into his eyes and dropped her hands to her sides.

_Stefan was right._

Whatever had happened between Damon and Rebekah—and quite possibly Damon and _whoever_—deserved an explanation before she could feel no regrets about it, whilst being on her way.

She had a strict no tolerance for cheating, and if Damon had really done what it so appeared to be, she'd be leaving anyway.

But perhaps it'd be better for her soul to know each and every reason why she was going to turn her back on this love, once and for all.

_She didn't owe that to Damon, but she definitely owed it to herself._

Bonnie was awakened from her thoughts when Stefan leaned in and wrapped his arms around her shoulders; pulling her deeply into a warm embrace as her head landed against his chest and his forehead on her shoulder.

Bonnie took in a deep breath as she savored the scent of his familiar cologne and Stefan's plan stroked along her back as his eyes remained completely open.

Wiping himself clean of any traces in this thing with Rebekah would be easier than it seemed, he realized, if pushed just a little—but not _too much_—to tip the scales. He'd have to make hard and defined moves to get his way with this, but he'd also have to sit back, relax, and wait—_watch _while his brother genuinely combusted on his own, and Bonnie fell deeper and deeper into his words, until finally, she had believed that this entire thing was her idea in the first place.

He'd have to make Bonnie believe she _wanted this, _while convincing his brother he had his back.

And it wouldn't be a simple task, but it would be worth it in the end when the papers were signed and it was all over.

_Just like it never should have started._

"I'm sorry, I'm a complete mess," Bonnie apologized gently, when she looked into Stefan's eyes and offered a sad nod. "One minute I'm angry, the next I'm _crying—_"

"And either way, I'm here for you," Stefan said softly as his hands cupped her cheeks. "And I'll get you through this, Bonnie—_I promise._"

Bonnie took in a quiet mouthful of air and she nodded her head before smiling in his direction; eyes full with confidence.

"_I trust you."_

XXXXX

Klaus didn't say anything as he stared at the 52 inch flat screen in Damon's living room, pressing away at the buttons on his XBOX controller, while his friend sat in silence beside him, doing the same exact thing.

This had been the most _intense _game of Madden that the two had ever played, and it wasn't for reasons of stark competition, either.

When Damon called Klaus and told him to come over _immediately, _the man didn't know what to expect, as he cut the re-painting of his den short, and found himself to Damon's place, in less than five minutes flat.

Donned in his alma mater's hoodie and a pair of Nike gym shorts, Klaus raised a brow as he walked in and Damon plopped on the couch—Samuel Adams in one hand and a pair of videogame cases in the other.

"_Madden '13 or Call of Duty 4?" _he asked.

Klaus chose the prior.

When it seemed like _hours _passed—though it was just seconds—as Damon started the game console and tossed him a controller, Klaus finally cleared his throat and turned to face him.

Damon remained unphased all the while.

"_I take it you skipped the party,"_ Klaus guessed.

Damon laughed sourly before taking a chug of his beer and shaking his head.

"_No, I went._"

And that was what led them here; still in silence, three hours later, as they almost finished off the twelve pack of beer—_mostly thanks to Damon—_still pushing through this game tirelessly, as if their lives depended on it.

When Damon attempted for a touchdown, Klaus didn't even press a button to present the defense, and his best friend turned to face him wide-eyed, as he clearly just threw the game.

Damon huffed when he set his controller down.

"I was going to beat you, fair and square," he said and Klaus didn't budge, as he reached forward for his last unfinished beer and placed it to his lips.

"I don't care. What the hell's the matter with you?" he asked bluntly.

Damon scoffed as he rose to his feet and stretched his arms.

_Damn; he really had been at that game for a while._

"I'm fine. Everything's fine," he said.

"You don't look fine," Klaus said as he narrowed his eyes. "You actually look kind of _pathetic._"

Damon sucked in a deep breath at that and licked his teeth before placing his beer to his lips.

"Thanks. I'm happy to know you still care," he said sarcastically, as Klaus rose to his feet and stared at him angrily. "What?"

"What kind of dumbass thing is that to say, Damon? If anything, I care _too much _while you don't, even the least bit. If you were expecting me to help you, you might wanna clue me in to what the hell happened tonight," Klaus said sharply.

Damon pressed his lips into a thin line.

Klaus was right; he had no counter for that, at all.

"I screwed up, with Bonnie—_as usual_—and probably won't get a chance to fix it… Not this time."

Klaus stayed quiet as Damon rose to his feet and chugged down the rest of his beer in one shot; letting out a hefty sigh when he was all done.

He'd promised Bonnie he wasn't going to drink tonight, but those words obviously went to hell.

_Just like everything always did, when he was concerned._

"And let me guess—Stefan was there to pick up the pieces, as always—"Klaus started and Damon stopped him immediately.

"What is your gripe with the Stefan thing?" he asked as he stared him down and narrowed his eyes. "Alright, yeah sure, I get it; I'm an _idiot _because my brother is closer to my own _wife _than I am, but so what? It doesn't mean every _bad thing _that happens is tied to him—"

"But it is quite the coincidence, isn't it?" Klaus pushed as Damon shook his head and began to collect the empty beer bottles. "Are you not noticing a pattern, Damon? That Stefan is there _every time _you 'screw up?'"

"Maybe because I am a perpetual screw up!" Damon yelled as his eyes widened, and Klaus sat still as Damon stalked towards him with hands rolled tightly around the bottle. "Maybe _he's _always there because he's the better man! Because he _knows _how to be there for her; because I know _nothing… _Because I don't _deserve _her—"

"She married you, didn't she?" Klaus asked as his eyes glared in Damon's direction heatedly. "She wanted to be with _you, _Damon, so pardon me but—who gives a _fuck_ about what you think Stefan deserves!" he said as he rose to his feet. "Do you love her?"

"Of course I do—"

"Then pull you head out of your ass and _fix _what's wrong instead of allowing him to be the one to take care of that," Klaus said as he shook his head. "And while you're at it, realize your own self-worth… Because you're going on and on about how your brother is so great, but clearly, she thought there was something great about you, too. So, run with it, why don't you?"

Damon brushed his fingers through his hair and didn't say a word as he watched Klaus collect his car keys and his hoodie, ready to depart for the night.

He knew his best friend was mad at him, but there was no one who was angrier with Damon than he was with himself.

He was letdown; completely _disappointed _with the way he let this Bonnie thing unfold, it almost seemed like a joke when he replayed it in his mind.

_Was this really the best he could do?_

"Klaus—"Damon started, and the man turned around to face him with pale blue eyes to meet him. "We have things to talk about—"

"Save the explanation for Bonnie," Klaus said as Damon licked his teeth and his friend neared the door. "She's the one you ought to pour out to. Not me."

Damon watched on as Klaus opened the door to leave and at the very moment he was about to walk out, Bonnie was turning her key in the lock.

She looked up first at Damon and then Klaus, before she ordered the former a cold stare and the latter an easy smile, though it hurt _so much _to pretend.

He stepped aside to offer her a direct path in and Bonnie nodded graciously at the motion, as she looked up at him.

"Hi, Klaus," she said.

"Goodnight, Bonnie," he replied, before ducking out and pulling the door shut behind him.

Bonnie skin tingled as she pulled off her light jacket and placed it on the hook; dropping her keys and her purse on the table by the door, as she slid out of her heels.

Damon watched her soundlessly, as she seemingly went through every motion—every action—as if he hadn't even been standing right there.

When Bonnie walked past him and towards the spiraled staircase, he decided he couldn't hold it in any longer.

He couldn't just _ignore her _the way she disregarded him. He never could.

"Do you wanna talk?" Damon asked as Bonnie set foot on the staircase and slowly made her way up. "Now that we're both here?"

Bonnie shook her head without even turning around; looping her hair into a ponytail as she continued to walk.

"I'm tired and you're drunk. Maybe tomorrow."

"You're full of shit and I am totally fine, so let me rephrase my question; Bonnie—you should come down here so we can have a talk. Please."

Bonnie spun around to eye him from the top of the staircase and she peered at him so coldly, he was convinced right then and there, he'd actually turn to ice.

Hell, he was shocked he didn't _become _a glacier.

"What do you want?" she asked harshly as she shrugged a shoulder. "To apologize? To justify the reasons why you are such a _whor—_"

"Let's not start with things we don't mean," Damon said, as he took a step in closer and continued to look up at her. "I just want to have a civil conversation. That's all."

"How about you go fuck yourself?" Bonnie asked rhetorically as she looked into his bright blue eyes. "That is, if you haven't had enough of _Rebekah_ tonight, already."

"Cute. Did Stefan teach you that one?" he shot back and her eyes flashed to rage.

"What the _hell _does this have to do with Stefan? The fact that he's my friend bothers you, now?"

"It does when you go off with him and come back acting like this," he said. "So c'mon, tell me—what's he feeding you?"

"Only a bunch of _bullshit _about me giving _you _another chance!" she yelled back and Damon shut his lips. "He was on _your side _tonight, Damon, and Lord knows why! You're an asshole—"

"Bonnie, that's _not _fair—"

"Don't you dare begin to preach to me about what's fair and what's not, Damon," she whipped around as she bit her lip and curled her fists. "Because you are the _last _person who can argue about that!" she exclaimed. "Is that the reason I wanted a divorce? Because you are just so _mind-numbingly _selfish that you can't think of anyone else but yourself?"

"I don't know, Bonnie," he said as he began to ascend the stairs, his skin heating with the fire the closer he got towards her, though she moved away from him with each step. "Was I the selfish one when I called you _every single day _while I was gone just to tell you that I loved you? Was I the _selfish one _when I sent white lilies once a week, _every Tuesday_ for _six months because they were your favorite, _to let you know that I _remembered _when we met? That I was so…_happy _to have met you?" he asked as he stepped in closer and stopped before her, as they stood now in the hallway. "Or was I the selfish one when you told me you needed _space_ though you had that—you had _oceans worth of space!_—But I _gave _that to you anyway and I stopped calling because _you _didn't want me to—because you told me _not _to," Damon erupted as she stared into his eyes and shook with each word. "Oh that's right; you don't remember _anything, _Bonnie."

Bonnie felt the lump in her throat increase as she shook her head and they stared one another down. She'd honestly never wanted to hurt someone so _badly _before.

"I probably didn't need space," she guessed with shrugged shoulders. "I probably needed _you, _Damon, but you didn't get that. You weren't _here_—"

"And now I am," he stated as his stance grew stronger and eyes fiercer. "So let's just settle this, once and for all."

"Fine," Bonnie breathed, as she folded her arms over her dress and met his eyes. "Tell me the truth, then; did you sleep with Rebekah?"

"No, I didn't," Damon said and Bonnie snorted. "What?"

"You're lying," she shook her head. "You did—you _had _to have slept with her!"

"And what makes you so sure? You asked me for the truth and I am _telling you _that I didn't, Bonnie."

"So, why did she act that way? Why did I see her in yours arms, as if you were _finally _being reunited with someone that you loved—"

"Because _she _fell in love with _me_," Damon cut in and Bonnie's brows knitted as he licked his lips and looked to the ground. "And I did a really lousy job at stopping her."

There was a long silence between the two as Damon fidgeted with his hands, and tried to suck in deep breaths through his chest, though he was too anxious to.

Bonnie swallowed hard as she stared at him and pinched the bridge of her nose accordingly.

"I don't understand—"

"After you told me that you wanted 'space'—whatever _that _was, I—Rebekah and I became close," he explained as she looked up at him and digested his words. "I told her _everything, _Bonnie; about me… about _you. _I was supposed to be her 'mentor' while she was interning, but she literally knew me like the back of her hand… and it was because I wanted her to."

Bonnie looked into Damon's eyes as he struggled to speak and she remained with a hardened glare. Damon chewed at his lip.

"It was wrong because I gave her the wrong idea," he said honestly. "She believed that I wasn't happy—_which I wasn't—_and because of that, she wanted to 'save me from my marriage.' Rebekah wanted me to be with her and she tried—_pretty damn hard—_to make it a reality, too. She was just _there _all the time. And it became pretty hard to escape her; I was _consumed _by her."

Bonnie dissected each and every word that passed Damon's lips before finally parting her own to speak.

"So you… had an _emotional _affair with her," she deducted. "Unless you two… kissed, or _something,_" she said shakily and Damon shook his head as he stepped in and took her hands.

His fingers wrapped around hers.

"I swear to you that it never went past my own feelings of loneliness for _you. _I… fucked up by letting her fall for me, Bonnie, but don't you see the reasons why?" he asked. "Because I thought I needed someone to _want _me—to _need _me… And you didn't. I—the first time I'd heard from you in _two weeks _was when you sent me an email telling me that we were getting divorced. So, I called you and we argued and then…" he stopped his words as Bonnie knew the rest.

She crashed her car.

Bonnie ran her fingers through her hair as she shut her eyes.

And suddenly, she felt like the worst person in the entire world.

"Bonnie," he stopped her by the wrist as she turned around to walk away and he noticed a stream of tears sitting at her cheeks as she stared at him. Damon immediately frowned upon first sight of them.

"I pushed my husband into another woman's arms," she said with a nod. "I said I needed _space; _who needs _space _when the person they're married to is thousands of miles away?" she asked, as her tears continued to flow. "A-And you sent me _flowers, _every week. My _favorite _flowers—"

"I didn't mean to throw that in your face," he apologized, but she ripped her hand away and shook her head. "I wanted to jog something, Bonnie—_anything_—"

"When I've just been so ready to up and leave you? _Why_?"

"Because _I love you!_" Damon finally exploded and Bonnie stood still as her body quaked and his eyes lined with tears. "Because I love you _so much_, Bonnie, and I've never stopped. I can _never stop _feeling what I feel for you right now."

She watched as Damon eased his hands into her own and she refused to look into his eyes this time.

They were just too heartbreaking.

"And I know… that there is _nothing _I can say that'll make up what I did to you. There aren't enough _words _in the English, Spanish, Italian and French dictionaries that can described the pain that I feel _knowing _that I hurt you… But please; _believe _me when I tell you this much—that I am completely _in love with you_ and I always have been. I always will be."

Bonnie's brows knitted together as she let those words filter all the way down to her soul and Damon blinked back a few tears while they stood in silence.

She'd known that he felt this—that he _loved her—_all along, but actually _hearing _the words? Well, they spiked something completely different in her heart than just thinking them.

Bonnie glanced up at the wall and her eyes came within direct vision of framed black and white photograph of the two in Venice on their Honeymoon; smiling at one another, while he held her hand in his own.

_As if the world revolved around them two._

She felt something in the pit of her stomach as she realized Damon was looking at the same photograph too, and she suddenly backed away at that.

He looked at her softly.

"I just—"she never finished, as she took off down the hall to their bedroom and Damon pursed his lips.

_No; he wasn't going to let her walk away twice in one night._

"Bonnie," he said almost inaudibly as he walked into their room and he saw her just standing there, with a determined look on her face as he neared her silently. "Bonnie?"

His thoughts were stifled and words cut off when she pressed her lips to his, and Damon's back slammed door shut so roughly, he was surprised it didn't come off of the hinges.

He didn't have time to think, as her fingers curled between his raven locks, and their bodies pressed towards one another so tightly, he found it so damn hard just to breathe.

Damon shut his eyes when Bonnie pulled his arms through his sweater and shirt; planting her lips along his collarbone as her fingers yanked at his shorts.

_What the hell had gotten into her?_

"Bonnie, Bonnie—"he said breathlessly, as he pushed her slightly away and met her eyes; she was breathing deeply. "What are we doing?"

Bonnie smoothed her hair back and inhaled longingly, as her palms landed on her face and she studied his eyes.

_What the hell _was _she doing right now?_

She slowly but surely remembered, when her hand pressed against his muscled abs, and her fingers trailed all the way down his stomach and gingerly back up to his chest.

"Rebekah made you feel wanted," she said, as he hands explored his frame and she looked up into his eyes. "You liked how she made you feel because you were _needed; _she _needed _you."

Damon sucked in some air when her hands made their way over his muscular shoulders and arms—he honestly believed he could get off on that _just alone. _

"She doesn't compare to you at all," he said. "_No one_ does—"

"Prove it," she said, as she slipped out of her dress and Damon's eyes glowered at her beautiful frame that became unraveled without the fabric as his eyes coursed over her skin. "Do to me what you wanted to do _all _those months while you were away; what you _couldn't do to her because you _wanted _me_," she challenged. "Because I _want _you too, Damon—and I _need you. _And despite everything else, it's enough, for now. It's what I need, _right now._"

Damon closed his eyes as her hands pressed along his skin and he leaned in closer towards her ear; his lips brushed against them as he pushed her hair aside.

He spoke in a soft whisper.

"I tell you I made one of the biggest mistakes I've ever made in my life and you want to sex me up afterwards? I'm not quite sure I understand the method to your madness," Damon confessed and Bonnie breathed as she blinked softly; feeling his cool breath dance along her skin as she toyed with the string to his shorts before looking into his eyes.

He was staring right back at her.

"You don't have to," she said as he licked his teeth. "The only thing you have to do is tell me that there isn't anybody else," Bonnie added as she studied his eyes. "That it was only just _me."_

Damon's hands ran along her sides and he shook his head at the ridiculousness that Bonnie ever believed that she could be just a _number. _Not to him; not _ever._

"There will _never _be anybody else," he said truthfully in response. "There _never_ was… 'In sickness and in health,' Bonnie,'" he quoted and she pulled him in for a kiss as his fingers drummed along her thighs.

"Until this bed do us part," she joked as she motioned behind them.

Damon didn't hesitate to grab her by the waist and push her onto the mattress; devouring her instantly, while her legs wrapped around him tightly.

_Forcefully._

When he buried his head in her chest, she raked her nails across his back and begged the room for air as she breathed in completely, before letting it all out.

_Deep and shallow, she would have to remember; much like the thrusts of Damon's tongue._

"Did I like to do this fast or slow?" she asked, as he peeled off his shorts and boxers; his fingers immediately getting to work on her black lace underwear.

When he wiggled them off and threw them to the ground, his hands pushed beneath her back and she arched her body to the ceiling.

"Depended on the day, or night," he said between kisses. "Or my crime," he confessed.

Bonnie sent her tongue across her lips when his mouth pressed to her stomach and her hand formed a fist around his dark hair; causing his head to tilt up at her. She contemplated- _painfully- _before finally pulling him up to meet her; green eyes glistening against blue, as they both tried to control their breathing though it was already getting erratic.

_And things so close to the point of no-return._

"Surprise me," she breathed, as her hand pushed his head back down and her nails scraped along his scalp. "Dealers choice; pick your poison."

Damon licked his tongue across her stomach and never even flinched when Bonnie's hands dug into his neck—surely leaving his blue and bruise for the morning that he he'd happily have to explain at work.

She closed her eyes when she felt his soft lips plant warm kisses along her skin until suddenly, he was above her again, and had her hand pinned at the wrists over her head while she looked at him.

He admired the sight, accordingly.

"Don't worry, _Mrs. Salvatore,_" he said gently as his knee pushed her legs apart and his mouth met her ear. "_I already have."_

**A/N: Hey hey hey! SO, two updates from me in like the span of a week? WTF? LOL. Enjoy it while it lasts, I've been inspired/have had the time to update lately. Get it while it's hot. ;) Speaking of… How did you all feel about Bonnie and Damon getting a little hot at the end of this chapter, finally? The best I can say is that sometimes when people are getting to "know" each other again, the physical route may be the road most **_**awesomely **_**traveled. LOL. **** This doesn't mean that things are necessarily "fixed" between them, but you WILL see a change next chapter in regards to the way that they treat each other from here on out. Now, as for Damon's "secret" about Rebekah… was it as bad as you all thought? I didn't want to make him a flat-out cheater b/c I'd never want Bonnie to go for that, however, he did make a mistake by getting too close for comfort and hopefully she can forgive that in due time, right? What do you think it was that made BONNIE be the one to ask for space to begin with? Does she have secrets of her own? Also, other thoughts on the Daroline/Stefan and his still manipulating(?) ways/Klaus throwing some truth juice in Damon's direction? All reviews are appreciated. **** As always, thank you all for reading and if you live in the USA, have a happy Fourth of July! Love you all and until next time! PS: Someone was concerned that this story will become "Stefan friendly" with Damon being made out to be the bad guy and I can promise you that while Stefan may be good with his words with Bonnie and Damon, it doesn't mean that he's a GOOD person; especially NOT for her. He's an obstacle; a really batshit crazy one. And while Bamon will continue to reconnect and rediscover what they once meant to one another, it wouldn't be nearly as fun without some schemed intervention. Don't worry, though; they'll catch a break, soon. And I promise you will love the reason why. Food for thought. **** Ta-ta for now, loveys! **


	7. Who Are You, Really?

**Who Are You, Really?**

Bonnie sighed as she stared up at the ceiling and she felt Damon's hand wrapping slowly around her bare waist; drumming along her hip and stroking against her skin, while she breathed in softly but deeply.

_While she contemplated whether or not they'd been making mistake after mistake since last night, or just finally had given into everything that they were meant to do, all along._

Bonnie shut her eyes and pressed her lips into a thin line when she felt his body shift against the mattress; move in closer towards her, before his mouth landed against her neck and her back completely against the bed before they kissed, over and over again.

Her nails clawed at his skin and Damon's silent but strong grip pressed against her thigh—she only reopened her gaze when their lips separated, to find his eyes staring directly into hers.

She exhaled as he propped himself directly above her.

"Good morning," he said, when his fingers stroked her hair and Bonnie blinked quietly before offering a response of her own.

"_Good morning."_

When he leaned in and kissed her again, she could barely contain the moan that threatened to escape from her lips; her hands tugged at his raven hair and their bodies pressed even closer together, with each passing moment.

His touch was _electrifying._

Every little move was _perfection, _she realized, as Damon's hands became more than miracle workers, intriguing and exciting her, all at once.

From the way they cupped at her sides, to the way they trailed across her stomach; she was in heaven—or close to it—each time he peeled something away and made his way closer to her innermost layer.

When Bonnie's muscles tensed, he whispered a short "_relax" _into her ear, and she did; she always settled down just a bit.

_Until they were right back at it again. And she was forced to wonder whether or not she actually believed in having a "one night stand," while her and Damon had so obviously exhausted that option and made the art of lovemaking into a fucking marathon._

Literally.

She figured it was because of the fact that they were _both _lacking in real, physical, human interaction for quite some time now, but she also may have silently believed that it went far deeper than that.

Like perhaps _maybe _the idea that she may have forgotten him, but her body didn't. And just like Damon _knew _every single crease, crack, and crevice to drive her absolutely insane these past few hours, maybe her body was admitting that he wasn't at all the stranger that she truly believed him to be, after all.

_Maybe _they were finally getting somewhere.

Bonnie rolled Damon onto his back this time, and the man pulled her face in closer as they continued to kiss strongly; only to be interrupted by the familiar sound of his phone ringing.

_It was way too early for interruptions._

"I have to get that, it might be importa—"Damon Salvatore's words were cut off when Bonnie's lips planted against his and his iPhone continued to go off tirelessly.

The redundant ringtone only became muffled once the phone slipped through his fingertips and landed facedown against the sheets, while the back of his head pressed against his pillow again and her dark hair tumbled over his face.

Damon smiled against Bonnie's mouth, as her hands smoothed over his five o'clock shadow and his fingers slipped down to her waist. She finally departed from the embrace—_but not before biting his lip_—and looked down at him as she remained straddled over his lap.

He blinked softly before completely opening his eyes and taking in the hint of the sunlight that crossed against her skin, through the semi-parted curtains at the bay window.

Her brown skin seemed to glisten as the warm rays hit her right shoulder, before he eagerly pulled her in again and planted a kiss there.

And her neck. And jaw. _And obviously, he couldn't forget about that collarbone. _

"What happened to that phone call being _important?_" she asked, when his hands began to slide up the back of her shirt, and across her bare skin.

Damon kissed her throat softly.

"_You're important."_

Bonnie smiled before pulling him into a kiss again and he pulled her flimsy tank top off and tossed it to the rug, exposing her bra.

She didn't know what this all meant with Damon, but one thing was for certain; they still couldn't stop touching each other—as if they were nothing more than a bunch of hormone-filled teenagers undoubtedly excited about their "first time" with each other.

They were really, _really _enjoying the physical aspect of it all.

The way her hands curved around his skin and her body snaked up and down was to make him _completely _lose it, in no time at all. When he tried to sit up, Bonnie pushed him back down and he laughed smoothly before raising his hands apologetically.

"Sexual ragdoll, it is," he confirmed and Bonnie grinned before placing a firm kiss against his lips again.

He could _definitely _do this for the rest of the day.

_Or at least until his nine to five called. Again._

Damon's phone began to blare once more and he scoffed, when he picked it up and prepared to ignore the call.

Only this time, the name displayed on the screen belonged to someone he was better off _not _snubbing, unless he wanted to lose his job.

_Richard Lockwood._

Bonnie noticed Damon's face and she exhaled sharply, before running her fingers through her hair and planting them on his abs.

The simple motion made his stomach do back flips.

"You gonna get that?" she asked in-between breaths, as she stared into his eyes and he sighed contemplatively while he held his phone.

"I obviously don't _want _to," he replied and Bonnie grinned before releasing him and sitting on her knees instead.

He frowned with disaccord at their morning romp's abrupt demise.

_It was fun while it lasted._

"Answer it," she urged, with a nod of her head. "It's fine—I promise."

Damon hesitated for a moment before mouthing a quick 'thank you' in return and letting out a sigh before he slid the touch screen to answer.

He stared up at his ceiling before clearing his throat.

"Mr. Lockwood, Good Morning," Damon mustered, as he glanced at the clock on the night table, realizing that it was only a few minutes after seven. "How can I—"

"_You can start by answering your phone the first twelve times my secretary calls you," _Richard replied and Damon feigned an apologetic smile before rolling his eyes as well, thankful that the man on the other end couldn't see it.

"I'm sorry about that, I've been having a… _busy_ morning," he answered as he looked across to Bonnie, whose hands were now smoothing along his thighs. "What's going on?"

"_I don't know Damon—you tell me—" _was the last thing he heard before he _felt _Bonnie positively take him into her mouth and his eyes shut tightly as his palm covered her head.

She was quite possibly trying to give him a heart-attack right in the middle of an already distressing moment, he reasoned.

_And if this were his cause of death, he'd consider it a dream to have gone out this way._

Damon barely gripped onto his phone and he damn sure didn't have a clue what the hell Rich was saying, as Bonnie continued to form her lips around him so expertly, he considered thanking the heavens that she hadn't lost _that _either in the accident.

She was even more mind-blowing than she had been, before.

Damon stifled a moan that threatened to escape his lips and he almost lost all it right then and there when Bonnie parted her mouth from around him for a second to meet his eyes.

She smiled before moving just her mouth for him to decipher inaudibly.

"_I hate waiting."_

Damon's hand wrapped around her hair when she dove back down and his body tightened when she moved him in even deeper into her mouth.

_This was just getting ridiculous._

"_Damon,_" a voice broke clearly through his thoughts, as he finally remembered that he had actually still been on the phone. _"What do you have to say for yourself?"_

Damon swallowed hard as he racked his brain for an appropriate response to _whatever the hell _Rich was accusing him of and he decided upon his favorite trusty line that he'd repeated all too often when it came to dissatisfying his boss.

"I sincerely apologize," Damon said confidently. "It will _never _happen again," he falsely promised and he heard Rich take a sip from his coffee on the other end.

"_You're damn right it won't happen again," _Rich barked into the receiver as Damon listened on. _"I expect you in the office by nine," _was the last thing Rich said before hanging up the phone and Damon ended his call as well.

He let his phone drop to the sheets and he felt Bonnie gradually stop his morning love fest, as he opened his eyes and she was staring directly at him.

"What?"

"Is everything okay at work?" she asked with clear concern in her eyes, as she folded her arms over her chest and his brows rose. "I could literally hear him screaming at you through the receiver. I'm actually shocked he didn't jump out of it."

"Trust me—he would of if he could of," he said as his hand reached in for Bonnie's and he pulled her closer. "But it's… nothing. Just accountant stuff, Rich is psycho as usual. Don't worry your pretty little head about it," he said calmly. "Me and the Boss Man bump heads every once in a while."

Bonnie didn't say anything when his lips landed on her neck and slowly moved down to her chest. She could hear the faint beating of Damon's heart as his hands raked over her skin and though she was trying to let it go, she couldn't.

_And he knew it too._

"Your job stresses you out, doesn't it?" she asked, and Damon's lips stopped when he looked up into her shining green eyes and her fingers coursed through his hair. "It's hard. And between that and _us_—"

"This is more important," he nodded in affirmation, while her gaze followed his. "_You _are more important, Bonnie, and fixing _us _is my top priority, okay? Work is work, and it's always gonna be stressful, but I meant everything that I said last night and I… know you did, too."

Bonnie smiled at that before he placed a kiss on her cheek and finally hopped out of bed.

Whatever Richard was mad about would blow over; his problems with Bonnie wouldn't. He needed to fix them and he had to do it fast, before it was too late.

As he opened up the closet to search for a suit, he heard Bonnie climb out of their bed. When he felt her hands lands on his bare shoulder blades, he sighed as she offered a smooth massage.

He breathed some air in as his eyes closed and head tilted forward; her hands honestly felt like _magic._

"If you wanna _fix _things, I think you can start by taking me out tonight," she said as her hands smoothed down his arms and her lips met his ear. "A date; a _real _one—because the last one was a _disaster._"

Damon bit his lip as Bonnie's hands slid down to his sides and he grasped onto them tightly from the front—wrapping them at his stomach. He relaxed in the simple embrace for a moment as he stared at the suit before him.

All he _really _wanted was to just stay here with _her._

_Forever, _if he could.

"I do owe you a date," he nodded as he felt her grin against his skin. "I owe you like _twelve _dates—"

"So, let's do it," she said as he slowly turned around and she looked up at him towering above her. "Let's… date," Bonnie said and he laughed gently. "What?"

"Nothing, Bonnie, you're just—I don't understand how I… found somebody like you; how I even _deserve _somebody like you, after that whole… _She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named_ thing. You should be _livid_—"

"And I am," she admitted, as he looked into her eyes and touched her hair. "I am still _livid _about… _Rebekah_—and I should probably pull a _Waiting to Exhale _and burn all of your shit to make it clear that I won't put up with something like that again, but… what'll that change, Damon?"

He thought for a second before parting his lips.

"I'd be pant-less," he said. "It'd be really good payback."

"I don't _want _payback—I want _you_; I want to make this thing work—with _you. _And I can't do that if I'm not willing to admit that maybe I screwed up too. I mean—I, _somewhere down the line, _decided that I needed _space _when I already had it. What if I—"

"Don't," Damon said as he shook his head and let out a breath. "Don't make my mistakes _your _burdens, okay? I messed up, Bonnie, and you deserved better… I'm going to give you better—tonight, on our date. And every night, from now on."

She offered a gentle smile before he leaned in and placed his lips against hers.

Bonnie immediately received him, as she placed both hands to his face and pulled him inevitably; deepening the kiss with every passing moment before they finally separated.

"I wish I didn't have to go," Damon said honestly and Bonnie frowned as his hands reached her hips and drummed against them rhythmically. "But I suppose the best I can do is at least allow you a few hours of recovery."

"I don't need any recovery—been there, done that," she said and Damon laughed before pulling her hands into his, and looping their fingers together.

He had an idea.

"Join me, then," he nodded towards the door as he began to walk backwards and Bonnie squinted skeptically as his grin widened. "You can wash my back in the shower."

She let out a short laugh before she realized he was _completely serious, _and they were walking through the door into the master bathroom, and Damon let go of her hand only to flick on the shower faucet.

He smiled at her bashfully.

"I'm not washing your back," she said, as he peeled off his boxers and she tried so desperately hard not to look down. "If anything, you're washing _mine._"

Damon's tongue sat between his teeth for a second as his eyes examined her, before he took a step back and walked into the stainless black steel and glass enclosure and locked the door; Bonnie's eyes following his every step.

She took in a deep breath as the steam from the water immediately filled the bathroom, and Damon's raven hair matted to his forehead as he shut his eyes.

Resistance was futile, she realized. _Especially _when he looked like _that._

"You can stand there and watch if you want to," Damon called, over the sound of the rushing water before his hands glided over his toned arms. "But I can't promise that it'll be as _satisfying _without getting a touch," he winked.

Bonnie pursed her lips to hide her smirk before crossing her arms over her chest.

"So, you're tempting me now?" she asked and Damon licked his lips as the water continued to barrel down on his chest as her eyes remained fixed on his. "What happened to offering me some 'recovery time?'"

"I don't remember that, you'll have to come in here and remind me of what was said," Damon joked and Bonnie laughed as she shook her head and he opened the shower door. "Or we could skip the small talk and you could let me screw you senseless and to the best of my ability before I go to work. Your call."

Bonnie inhaled a deep breath as his blue eyes shone brightly against the backdrop and she pretended to contemplate the pros and cons of his statement, though they both knew what her very next course of action would be.

_Even if she wanted to pretend._

She finally stripped off her bra and underwear, much to Damon's delight, and walked into the shower—his lips immediately latching to hers the minute the door locked, and her back pressing against the slick wall, before he raised her into his arms.

"I knew you'd give in," he whispered as she held him tighter. "I'm hard to resist."

Bonnie pulled his hair and Damon yelped when she positioned his face to meet hers, while the water continued to drop from his face.

"And you're even harder to shut up."

Her hands coursed through his hair and his mouth moved towards her neck; suctioning along her jawline when she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and she let out a laugh when he nibbled her ear playfully.

_She was going to be thoroughly disappointed if every single morning from here on out didn't start out exactly like this, from this day forward._

XXXXX

"So, let me get this straight—you and Damon got into the argument of a lifetime last night, cut each other down so deeply, your _words _left bruises, and then… proceeded to bump and grind until probably about an hour before you got here?" Caroline asked bluntly, as Bonnie poured sangria from the pitcher into her and the blonde's wine glasses, before walking back over to her beach chair in Caroline's backyard, and handing it to her. "What kind of _drugs_ are you using? Are they cheap?"

"I'm not using drugs, Caroline. Damon is just…" she thought silently before smiling and shaking her head. "He makes me feel… _high_," Bonnie said as Caroline tilted her head.

"So does pot, and it has half the snark. I have a guy, if you're interested—"

"I'm not," Bonnie deadpanned. "I just… I wanna feel the way that I did this morning with him, _all _the time. Everything about last and then today was just so… surreal; like I was finally _happy _and it almost felt like I _remembered _him, and I just—I can't explain it. Don't judge me right now, okay? I know—"

"I have every right to judge," Caroline replied, as Bonnie sat down and fixed her fedora. "Damon emotionally _cheated _on you with Lucifer's doppelganger, and you rewarded him by having _sex _with him? Am I in the _Twilight Zone?_"

"I didn't _reward _him," Bonnie replied as Caroline rolled her eyes. "I _wanted_ to have sex with him, so I did. People do that you know; they have sex with people that they're angry at."

"_Not _people who are on the brink of divorce, lose all their memories about their husband, and _then _find out he quite literally had a hand in making another woman fall in _love _with him… As for him not _doing the do _with Rebekah—well, he might as well have. Emotional affairs aren't just something you can forget about in the blink of an eye, Bon. They can _destroy _you—"

"Like I destroyed him?" Bonnie asked lightly, as she turned to face her before taking in a deep breath. "I… wasn't the _innocent _one, Caroline—I pushed him away from me, for whatever reason that I did, and until I know what that reason is… don't I owe him a little bit of understanding, just like he's been trying to give me? What if _I _cheated on Damon?"

"Okay, I _seriously _doubt that, Bonnie. I would have known about it—"

"What if you didn't? What if no one knows about it and it's just me? What if I'm somehow _blocking _it out?... _Something _happened, Caroline, to make me want nothing to do with him, for absolutely _no _reason. I know it. What if… what if _I _had somebody else?"

Caroline breathed in deeply as she took another sip of her drink and Bonnie continued to stare up at the sun behind her shades. She remained motionless all the while.

"I'm not gonna be an idiot and fall in love with him and his words just like that; his actions, now, have to speak for him ," Bonnie cut the silence, as Caroline listened quietly. "But I… I just _have _to believe that we both deserve a fresh start… okay? It's just that—"

"I wanna look out for you," Caroline interjected, as Bonnie watched the girl lift her shades and offer a sad smile. "I _love _you, Bon—and I don't have anything against Damon—he's my friend too. But you're…you're my _best friend. _And I just want what's best for _you._ I want you to make the _right _choice."

"Do you think he's the wrong one?" Bonnie asked bravely, though she was a bit petrified of the answer. "Do you think I'm making a mistake giving him another chance to fix this?"

Caroline pursed her lips together as she thought about it for a bit before shaking her head 'no,' and Bonnie breathed a sigh of relief at that.

"I think that… people make mistakes. And… even though his was _huge _Bonnie, and it'll take time to deal with-_deep, deep _down, a part of you knows what it was like to love him; to be _in love _with Damon. And I know you can't just shake that; even if you don't remember it… I don't expect you to; I wouldn't want you to, either."

Bonnie sighed at nodded at Caroline's words.

It was true; her mind may have been a completely blank slate when it came to Damon, but somehow, her body wasn't. And with the fogginess or letting her actions speak more than her words could, Bonnie was completely coming to terms with the fact that she wasn't ready to give up on this; at least not yet. She had to see it through before she could even dream of seeing her way out. And hopefully she wouldn't regret that; she _prayed _that she wouldn't, in fact.

"All I'm saying is…Damon should still have to work for it when it comes to you," Caroline said. "And I mean _more _than just working his tongue."

Bonnie snorted at that as Caroline shrugged unapologetically and they met eyes.

"And I intend to make him do so… We're going out on a date tonight," Bonnie informed before taking a sip of her drink. "Not like that last one where he totally wonked out and I had to drive us home," Bonnie recalled and Caroline tugged at her lip when Bonnie mentioned it. "…What's that look?"

"Nothing, I just… remember you telling me about that; about Damon just being completely disoriented out of _nowhere, _so naturally, I told _Elijah—"_

"I'm shocked," Bonnie joked dryly. "Any excuse to talk to your favorite doctor, huh?"

"Knock it off, we've been completely and totally professional, okay? He hasn't even asked me out—which, you know, isn't exactly my _choice _or anything—and that says something because _I'm _the perfect catch," she said as Bonnie rolled her eyes playfully. "Anyway, _he _said Damon should probably get some testing done just to make sure it wasn't a serious problem… It's a little bit bizarre for someone to just pass out like that with little to no reason… Especially when you thought it could have been alcohol, but he and Klaus split a 12-pack _last night_ and he was still coherent enough to rage on about his marriage afterwards, so…"

Bonnie thought about that and it did make sense. Over the time spent with Damon and noticing his drinking habits, the _only time _that he passed out with no recollection of anything was the night of their first and late "date." Maybe it would be in his best interest to get checked out; _just in case._

"Fine—I'll tell him. Or better yet—_Elijah _can tell him, when you invite him out tonight for a double-date with Damon and I," Bonnie smirked, as Caroline's face turned to a pale white. "He might have mentioned _something _about a karaoke bar, and—"

"I am _not _intruding on you and Damon's first _real_ date, Bon! You two need alone time—"

"We had a lot of alone time this morning, and if we have any more, I'm pretty sure Damon will try to fuckme _right there on stage_, so in a way, I'm actually asking for your _protection,"_ Bonnie grinned and Caroline laughed. "Come on, Care; it'll be fun! We can… do the Spice Girls and The Jackson 5, and every other amazing music choice you might have because you're the queen of nostalgia."

Caroline smiled at that before tucking a strand behind her ear.

"I am quite well-versed in cheesy pop culture and ridiculous dance moves…"

"So, come," Bonnie urged. "It'll… give you a chance to break the ice with Elijah _outside _of a professional setting and you'll also be helping me—_your best friend—_not feel so weird about dating my husband. Again."

Caroline sighed, but nodded positively before stretching her arms and sending Bonnie a silly grin.

"Can you _imagine _what Elijah will sing? Do you think he and Damon will do a _duet?_"

Bonnie laughed whole-heartedly at that; just the thought of her "husband" and her psychologist after the argument singing with one another on a stage was enough to get her even more excited about this date.

She wasn't excited, however, about the fact that Damon and Elijah would probably speak one on one about Rebekah at some point, but she was going to leave her bitter distaste about the blonde in the vault in her mind, where it couldn't get out.

Maybe she'd get some more insight on this girl. Maybe not.

All she _did _know was that Rebekah couldn't affect her and Damon anymore, if she didn't let her.

_She wasn't going to._

Because if she was going to give this a real and honest chance, she'd have to accept that and like Damon preached: she could not let his mistake become _her _burden.

Before Bonnie say a word, the two heard a crash from the inside of Caroline's apartment and they glanced each other shortly before they both hopped out of their poolside seats and made their way in through the back screen door.

"Elena?" Caroline called tentatively, as she walked in with Bonnie right behind her. "Are you home?"

"_Yeah, I just—I dropped a mug," _the girl called back from the kitchen. "_Don't worry about it—"_

Her voice stopped when Bonnie and Caroline both appeared in the kitchen to see Elena with her arms folded tightly over her chest and Stefan a few feet across from her; as the two stared at each other silently.

Bonnie and Caroline exchanged a glance at the awkward and quiet moment, before Stefan painted on a smile and looked their way.

"We were… gonna make coffee," he said. "And maybe grade some papers… You know, the usual."

"We… didn't see your car out front, Caroline; just Bonnie's. We figured you two were out, otherwise, we would have said hello."

"Nope, just getting some maintenance done," Caroline said, as she watched Stefan reach for the dustpan to clean up the ceramic shards and Elena finally loosened her arms. "…And if _that's _what you two planned on doing before we so _obviously _interrupted, you can just say so… I know you're 'broken up' and all, but I heard having sex with someone you're angry at is normal, so—"

Elena and Stefan exchanged a glance, before the brunette offered an exasperated look and nodded her head.

"Yeah… Guilty," she breathed. "We'll have to be quitter next time—"

"No need; I'm just gonna make a quick phone call to Elijah about tonight and then we have to leave to pick up my car anyway," Caroline said. "Maybe you and Bonnie can catch up in the meantime, though," she said before walking off and out of the kitchen.

Elena turned to face Bonnie and she feigned a grin while the girl watched her carefully and Stefan continued to quietly take care of the mess.

"How have you been?"

"I'm… fine," Bonnie nodded, as she looked into Elena's russet eyes and noted a hint of sadness behind them. "We don't… talk much, anymore… Is everything—"

"I'm fine," Elena falsely reassured as she sent Bonnie a smile. "Just working a lot; _really _busy with the kids and getting them ready for their final exams before the summer gets here… There aren't really any days off when it comes to teaching."

"I see," Bonnie said softly, as she watched Stefan sweep the mess up and then dump it into the waste bin effortlessly. "But you two… seem to have a lot of time to spend with each other," she added as the man looked up. "I guess it's nice being at the same school."

"It has its perks," Stefan replied as he dusted his hands and stuffed them into his pockets. "What's that Caroline was saying about tonight?"

"She's inviting Elijah Mikaelson out—for karaoke, with Damon and I," Bonnie informed. "It's kind of gonna be a double date thing—but you two are more than welcome to come," Bonnie said hopefully.

"I don't—"Elena started and Stefan interrupted her.

"I don't think that'll be a problem. Right, Elena?" he turned to face her. The girl inhaled deeply before nodding and Stefan flashed a smile Bonnie's way. "It sounds great. I'm glad you and Damon worked everything out from last night."

Bonnie smiled gently as she tucked a strand behind her ear and nodded.

"We're getting there."

Caroline was back into the kitchen at that, with a beaming grin on her face and her pocketbook slung over her shoulder before clapping her hands together and turning to face Bonnie.

"So, _that _went well. I'll tell you all about it in the car—"

"Hey, can I come too?" Elena asked suddenly, as she felt Stefan's eyes burning through her and Bonnie and Caroline looking at her curiously. "Like you said, Care—Bonnie and I haven't had a chance to catch up and I was thinking maybe we could get lunch."

"What about the grading?" Caroline asked, as Elena was already grabbing her things.

"It can wait. Meet you at the car? I'll drive."

She was already out of the kitchen and headed outside before Bonnie or Caroline could say anything about that. Caroline sent Bonnie a look of amusement before she turned to Stefan and shrugged her shoulders.

"Sorry you're getting ditched but I'm sure you guys will more than make up for it later," she quipped before facing Bonnie. "Ready?"

"I'll meet you out there—I just have to talk to Stefan really fast."

Caroline nodded affirmatively before exiting and Bonnie sighed before she faced the olive-eyed man before her and he offered a quaint smile.

"I _pray _that I'm at least getting ditched for that new home-style spot on Mystic Lane," he said and Bonnie laughed as she shook her head.

"Negative; Caroline's on another one of her crazy celebrity diets and Elena—well, you know her—she picks like a bird, so Vegan it is," Bonnie said as Stefan's eyes shone. "Speaking of Miss Elena… what's the deal? Yesterday, you told me things didn't work out; you even brought _the girl _you've been talking about for months to the event, who—F.Y.I—turned out to be Damon's _emotional mistress. _So… What's the deal, today? Are you two back on?"

Stefan licked his tongue across his teeth as he began to pack his things away and looked at Bonnie.

"It's… complicated. I mean—I care about Elena; I do. I just—"

"She isn't 'the one,'" Bonnie finished, with crossed arms. "She's not _Rebekah._"

Stefan pursed his lips at that when he met her eyes.

"You do know I'm sorry about that, right? I had _no _idea—"

"It's fine, Stefan—I get it," Bonnie nodded. "You _like_ her and even if I have my personal issues with her, I can't tell you who to date. I won't stop you if, for some reason, she _is _the one. It doesn't mean that I _like _her; I probably never will, but—everybody has a past. And I'm your _best _friend… No one can come in-between that."

Stefan finally zipped his bag and sighed as he looked up; leaning himself against the counter.

"Not even my brother?" he asked softly, as her brows furrowed. "I'm… sure he had some choice words about me last night after you got home… I messed up, Bonnie—"

"You didn't know," Bonnie said, as she took a step in and shook her head. "And once you explain that to Damon—_if you come tonight—_I don't think he can stay mad at you… Especially considering the fact that _you're _the reason why he and I have—"she stopped as she searched for the words and racked her brain for an appropriate answer. "We're okay, Stefan… We're actually _okay, _right now, and it's because of _you; _you're the reason why I went home last night—the reason why I even gave him another chance… You had my back, just like you always do. And now, I wanna have yours. Okay?"

Stefan didn't say a word as he glanced into Bonnie's effervescent eyes, before he was the one to move in this time; closing the gap between them by little more than a breath before he placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it softly.

"I can't ask you to do that," he said in a low tone.

"You didn't ask; I'm _telling _you that I will, and there isn't anything you can say to change my mind," Bonnie replied, as a serious look locked into her eyes and Stefan bit his lip. "And when have I let you tell me what to do?" she asked.

_Much more than you know, _Stefan thought, though all he returned was a charming smile, as his thumb grazed her shoulder before dropping his hand.

"You're right—you're stubborn."

"And don't you know it," she dotted her index at his chest and he laughed. "Come tonight and let's all just have a good time… I know this is my first _real _date with Damon but that doesn't mean that I don't want you there, too. The more, the merrier, right?"

Stefan smirked at that as he captured Bonnie's gaze and finally nodded in agreement.

_She was making this easier than she ever could have known._

XXXXX

"_You wanted to see me, Rich?"_

Damon stepped into the massive office on the top floor at the accounting firm, and watched on as Mr. Lockwood reclined in his leather chair, facing the wall of glass windows before him, while he gently rocked back and forth.

He cleared his throat gently without even facing him.

"Lock the door, Damon. And then have a seat," his boss ordered and Damon complied, as he pulled in tightly, before walking over to the massive brown desk and sitting down in one of the chairs.

But not before glancing at the memorabilia that lined Richard's glass cases and perfectly painted walls.

Pictures, trophies, awards—_everything—_to let anyone who stepped foot into this office know just who they were dealing with; or who they had just pissed off.

_Lockwood Industries _was one of the top-leading accounting, finance, and consulting firms not only in the country, but in the _world. _With offices and clients from here to many parts of Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia, Richard Lockwood had singlehandedly taken his company global and anyone who _didn't _take the man's dreams and aspirations seriously were now probably _choking _on their words.

Damon sometimes wondered what life was like for someone on Rich's _bad side_; he was soon beginning to think he'd be one of those people when the man summoned him over the intercom _directly _to meet him hear, instead of going through his chain of command like he normally would have.

What the hell did he want with him, now?

"Nice view, isn't it?" Richard asked, as he now rose from his seat and walked over to the line of windows. "You can see _everything _here; and let me tell you Damon—Virginia is _far _more elegant than New York, isn't it?"

Damon mentally reflected on his hometown and offered a short nod in his boss' direction, even though he wasn't looking.

"It has its moments… Something about the dirt and grime in Manhattan speaks to me, though," he replied, as Richard continued to pace. "But you didn't call me in here to talk about my geographical preferences, did you?"

The brown-eyed man finally turned towards Damon and he let out a sigh as he sat down in his chair and looked into his eyes. There was a stark silence between the two before the man folded his hands and cocked his head.

"You're a sharp one. With every reason I have to _fire you, _I remember just a few more as to why I keep you around," Richard replied and Damon bit his lip at that. "What we discussed this morning, Damon; how about I refresh your memory?"

Damon quietly thanked the gods for that one, when he remembered he hadn't _mentally _been there at all, for him and Rich's conversation that morning. He had Bonnie to congratulate for that.

"You fucked up last night," Richard said bluntly, as Damon raised a brow and the man moved in closer. "And today—_you _are going to fix that multi-million dollar mistake. Correct?"

_No, he _still _didn't get it, as he stared at Richard questioningly, before the man straightened his tie and continued to speak._

"The fact that you so _carelessly_ verbally attacked the daughter of two of our biggest clients is a dire mistake on _your _part and I do expect you to extend an apology to Michel, Esther, and Rebekah _tonight, _when we go out to dinner."

Wait, what? Hold the phone.

"Huh?" was all Damon could say and Rich huffed knowingly before sipping the coffee that was on his desk.

"Don't play dumb with me, Damon—I told you I have eyes everywhere—and I've heard from not only the Mikaelson's, but others as well, that you got into a bit of an argument with her last night at Dr. Mikaelson's book launch before taking off. Now, I remember you being her mentor once upon and time when she interned for us, and from what I know, you two were quite _close_—"

"We weren't that close," Damon said clearly and he watched as the man narrow his dark eyes. _"Sir."_

"I don't care," Rich said brashly, as Damon straightened in his chair and cleared his throat silently. "I have been doing business with the Mikaelson's since they've moved into Mystic Falls, and their relationships with my company are ones that I cherish dearly. So, it's not very wise of you to sever those bonds, considering the fact that they are _multi-millionaires_ and Little Miss Rebekah is set to own more than half of her parent's fortune here, when they move back to London. Do you understand that? "

Damon let out a sigh before saying "Yes, Sir," and Rich continued.

"Do you understand that if you don't _kiss their asses _tonight, not only will _I _be out of a multi-million dollar investment, but _you _will also be out of a _job_?" he asked, and Damon exhaled at that. "Best friends with Mason or not, I won't let you make a fool out of me or this company—I _can't…_ So, if you know what's best for you—"

"Maybe none of this is 'best' for me," Damon finally piped up, and he watched as Rich's eyes widened with surprise, before rising to his feet and straightening his tie. "This entire thing is—for lack of a better choice of words—_bullshit. _It's complete and total _bullshit _that I have to sell my soul to these people—to _you_—because Rebekah is a girl with a crush that I _didn't _reciprocate—"

"Like the fact that your wife doesn't know who you are and isn't _reciprocating _the feelings that _you _have for _her?_" Rich asked and Damon sucked his teeth as the man stood up now as well, and planted both hands on his desk. "The only difference is that _you _have the choice as to whether or not you walk away from your failing marriage—when it comes to me, however, you don't._ You _don't get to walk away from this until _I let you, _Damon… I own you—_this business owns you. _And if you think it'll be as easy as handing in your two weeks to escape that, I've come to tell you that you've got it all wrong."

Damon felt his fury raging beneath his bones the longer he stared at him, but he didn't say a word as Rich finally lifted his hands from the desk and began to slowly walk around towards one of the many trophy cases in the room. Damon watched on with ire and thinly veiled indignation as his boss folded his hands over his chest and glanced at his visual achievements.

"From the very moment you signed on to this company, Damon, I knew that you could _be someone. _Someone… strong, and bold—_capable _of getting the impossible to happen and _making _things work, when it seemed like there would be no way at all… And of all of the accountants that I have hired; it's always been _you. _You have been the one to prove that you have what it takes to always get the job done."

Damon licked his teeth as he looked down at the mahogany desk and drummed his fingers against it softly, though his heart was threatening to beat out of his chest.

"Because I listened to _you—_and I've done _so _many god awful things, _just _in the name of business—"

"And it's the reason that you won't be going anywhere, Damon," Rich announced, as he looked up solemnly and met his eyes. "Unless you want to be indicted for every _god awful _thing you've done; and sent to prison for the rest of your life where you'll lose every chance you _ever _had at becoming an executive board member for this company—"

"It's worth the risk," Damon said lowly, as he shook his head. "I'd rather go to jail than do what I've done for you, again—"

"But is all of that worth losing _Bonnie?_" Rich asked, as Damon sucked in a bout of air and the memory of his wife flashed through his mind. "All of the marriage counseling in the world won't make up for the fact that you're a _criminal _now, who just hasn't gotten caught—_thanks to me... _Do you really think she'll forgive you if she ever finds out what kind of man you _really _are; a _liar _and a _fraud?"_

Damon didn't say a thing as Rich walked over him silently, before placing a hand on his shoulder and gripping hard as he looked down at the ground.

"We have reservations for four at _Le Cercle, _tonight at seven. I don't think care what must be done, but you will get back into the good graces of the Mikaelson's for the way you spoke to Rebekah… Hell, you'll _kiss her feet _if she wants you to and you will make sure that she knows you are _terribly apologetic _about what happened last night, at the signing. Do you understand?"

Damon bit his tongue—_both literally and figuratively—_before offering an affirmation towards his boss' words.

"Fine."

"Use that little _crush _that she has on you to your advantage, why don't you?" Rich smirked, as Damon rolled his eyes. "Do what you have to do. Because if you don't—you can kiss it _all _goodbye. This job, your future… _your wife... _Something tells me that orange isn't your best color, Damon; and I know Bonnie probably wouldn't care for it either."

Rich gave Damon a strong pat before taking a few steps away to reach into his chrome mini-cart, where he retrieved two glasses and a bottle of gin as he watched on in silence.

He didn't look away as the man poured two drinks, before handing him one and raising his glass for a toast, though Damon's eyes were jaded while his mind had erupted into a full-blown _frenzy._

"To _you, _Damon," the man began, as he stared into his eyes and offered a wickedly glinted smile. "To everything that I see in _you _that reminds me of myself; drive, compassion, _fortune… _To you joining me on the quest for more—_to get more—_because there are entire financial markets out there just waiting to be discovered… _and exploited," _Rich winked. "To _exploiting _all of your talents, Mr. Salvatore."

Damon bit his lip as Rich's glass clinked against his. The next he knew, his mouth was pressed to the glass and he was guzzling down gulps of alcohol faster than a racecar in a drag race.

He only caught onto his train of thought once he bottomed out the glass and Rich poured him another; raising to a toast one more time, with that callous smile and demon eyes that Damon knew all too well.

_That sadly reminded him of _himself.

"Great minds think alike, Damon," Rich said, as he looked into his eyes and followed his stare. "And in the end, _they lie together, as well."_

XXXXX

"_So, I'm officially torn between _'Single Ladies' _and _'Crazy in Love,' _I just can't decide."_

Bonnie laughed as he scrolled through the digital handbook with Caroline Forbes at the karaoke bar in downtown Mystic Falls and they were both hit with systematic nostalgia as they hummed along to the songs of the oldies in the book, wishing that they could just pick every song and call it a night.

"Well," Bonnie said as she looked up at Caroline who was sipping her martini and she let out a sigh. "If we do 'Single Ladies' we get to put our YouTube skills to good use, because I'm pretty sure you made me and Elena learn that dance with you _just _so that we could show it off in public or join a flash mob or something."

Caroline giggled at that as she fluffed her blonde curls and bit her lip.

"That is now a life skill you can formally add onto your resume so _you're welcome,_" Caroline said proudly as Bonnie smiled and shook her head. "What are friends for?"

"Being choreographers, obviously," Bonnie said as Caroline smiled.

"Clearly! I mean, who else was gonna teach you and Damon the waltz right before your weddi—"Caroline stopped when she met Bonnie's eyes and she took in a deep breath. "Sorry, I… forgot."

Bonnie sat up a bit straighter in her white and gold sequined blouse, and crossed her skinny-jeaned legs as her navy heel bounced and she took a sip of her drink.

She convinced Caroline to let her wear jeans tonight and she thought she was already regretting it, as her body warmed instantly at the mention of "Damon" and "wedding."

It was suddenly _really _hot in here.

"It's okay," Bonnie smiled surely, though she knew her eyes were a bit sad; she could tell by Caroline's frown. "I mean, it's not like the memories are just gonna _come back, _so it's nice to… hear about them… It's nice to know that it all was real, you know?"

Caroline reached in for both of Bonnie's hands and stared deeply into her olive eyes, before letting a soft smile land on her lips.

"It can still be _real, _Bonnie. It _is _real—you were… head over heels, once; _completely in love _with Damon and I was one of the lucky people who got to be here for that… I got to watch two of my best friends fall in love and it was… _beautiful._ And I know I was harsh on you earlier, but the truth is that... I hope you two can find that, again. I _pray _you and Damon get back what you've lost because you deserve to be happy… I've _seen _him make you happy."

Bonnie felt tears line the rims of her eyes and she laughed gently as she looked away.

Only she could somehow manage to get emotional over her own love story that she didn't even remember.

"Thank you, Care," Bonnie said finally, as she brushed the bottom of her eye with her thumb. "Thank you… keeping my head on straight, through all of this."

Caroline gazed at her sincerely before shrugging a shoulder.

"I've been treating your life like it's one of the events that I've been planning; no big deal," she said as Bonnie laughed. "Do you want another drink, while we wait for everyone to show up? I'm gonna need one to calm my nerved before Elijah gets here."

"You're gonna be fine, Caroline—you're the Flirting _Queen._"

"More like a _jester, _but thanks," Caroline said as Bonnie smiled and the blonde rose to her feet. "be right back; _no _singing without me," she warned before walking off and Bonniesmirked as she watched her make her way to the bar before she looked down at the screen again.

She was supposed to be picking which tune she'd dominate for she and Caroline's diva moment, but she was admittedly thinking about _him, _again; Damon's blue eyes and his raven dark hair, as she recounted their night—_and morning—_over and over again, in her head.

She even smiled a little bit when she remembered post-shower, with them both in the kitchen, as he rushed to make it to work, but not before he made her eggs and a cup of hot green tea.

"_To center you chi," he winked, before planting a kiss on the lips and heading towards the door to start his day._

_She shamelessly pulled him back in for yet _another _kiss, and she may have let out a giggle or two when his hands slipped beneath her royal purple robe and his body pushed hers against the counter._

_It had just been one of those kind of mornings._

Bonnie smiled to herself, before the buzzing of her phone in her pocket knocked her out of her stupor and she pulled it out to glance at the name on the screen.

_Damon. _Speaking of the devil.

"You're late," Bonnie sang, as she looked down at her watch and tapped her foot. "Everyone's going to be here in a few minutes. You got my message that said we were meeting here, right?"

There was a bit of silence on the other end, as Bonnie listened closely, and recognized the sound of Damon's directional in his Range Rover. He was driving; that was a relief, at least.

"_I—should have called you sooner, but I got really held up at work, with Rich. I've been in his office all day."_

"Is everything alright?" Bonnie asked. "Are you in trouble?"

"_Yeah… sort of," _Damon admitted before he inhaled. _"Look, Bonnie—I… can't make it tonight, to the karaoke bar. I have to go to this dinner, with the Mikaelson's—to apologize to Rebekah about the party."_

Bonnie let out a scoff in disbelief as she clutched her phone closer to her ear and narrowed her eyes.

"You're joking, right?"

"_I wish I was, but I'm in a limo with Rich, now, headed to the restaurant. And I suck—really bad—for not telling you before—"_

"Uhm, yeah," she nodded. "You're cancelling on our date, Damon—"

"_And I'll make this up to you—I promise. I just; her family is important to Rich, and as my boss…"_

"He… comes first," Bonnie swallowed. "Your job comes first. I—I get it, I guess…"

"_Bonnie—"_

"Look, enjoy dinner, okay? I hope—I hope that it all works out and you make Rich proud. I have to go," she hung up, and she sighed as she stared blankly before her; taking in yet _another _air of frustration and disappointment at the fact that she and Damon were being put on the back burner, _again._

She was starting to think first dates weren't their thing. She was also starting to get really _mad _when she realized that this just always seemed to be the story; that she and Damon would get to be _normal _and just going out for a night on the town was a feat better left to her dreams.

Dating her husband was proving to be a _lot _harder than it should have been. And even if this really _wasn't _Damon's fault, it didn't make the idea of his words from this morning—_about her being the one that mattered—_feel like any less of a sting now that he was showing that something else mattered just as much—if not _more _than her_—_and it was his job.

_It would always be about business with him._

"Bonnie!" she heard, and she snapped out of her thoughts to see Stefan walking in with a grand smile, and a slight wave, before she sighed with relief and smiled gently back.

_Here was someone she had never had any trouble relying on._

"Stefan, hey," Bonnie said in a relieved tone, as he reached in for a hug before sitting next to her on the circular couch. "So glad you could make it."

"Oh, of course. I wouldn't miss a duet between you and Caroline for the world," he grinned as she smiled. "Where's everyone else?"

"Caroline got sucked into the bar, Elijah's late, and Damon—"she started and stopped; causing Stefan's eyes to dim with concern. "…Let's just say he had other priorities tonight."

Stefan pursed his lips at that.

"He bailed on your first date?"

"I don't want to talk about it; let's _not _talk about it," Bonnie dismissed as she grabbed her drink and sipped a bit more. "I'm the fifth wheel, now, at my own gathering."

"Not quite," Stefan said, as he looked into her eyes and she stared at him curiously. "Elena bailed, too. Something about a _New Girl _marathon," he said, as Bonnie shook her head. "A.K.A—she doesn't want to be around me, so I'm taking that as my cue to leave her be."

Bonnie frowned at that; remembering the awkwardness at the apartment earlier, and then Elena's reluctance to even utter a word about she and Stefan at lunch, as if she had signed a fucking gag order. Elena had always been secretive, to some extent, but her blatant avoidance of Stefan—and everyone, at this point—was just plain weird.

Maybe she really _had _been as burned by this, as Stefan thought.

"She'll come around," Bonnie said hopefully. "I know she will."

Stefan shrugged at that before looking into her eyes plainly.

"_She and my brother, both, right?"_

She didn't answer that, and Caroline came back with a pitcher of beer and a few glasses; arranging them perfectly on the round table in front of them, while her and Stefan chatted and Bonnie became victim to her thoughts again.

_They would preoccupy her all night, if they could._

**A/N: Hey all! Finalllllly an update from me and I hope you all enjoyed the cute/sexy/fluffy Bamon moments in the beginning, the Baroline friendship moments, Stefan still being a manipulative little bastard, and Rich turning the tables on table on the Rebekah thing. What do you expect to happen next? How far is Damon willing to go to keep his not-so-perfect life from Bonnie and what will happen when the two finally do meet again after this? I'd like to thank you all again for putting up with me and my stories—you are all so amazing and so very patient. I love you! Read, re-read, review, and enjoy. Until next time, my dears. xoxo**


	8. Just One Yesterday

**Just One Yesterday**

"This _coq au vin _is to die for, Richard. I can't believe Michel and I have never seen it necessary to dine here before," Esther said as she made her way through her dish. "Just _amazing._"

Richard tipped his wine glass in her direction from across the rounded candlelit table for five, with a smile painted upon his face. His hand landed firmly on Damon's back, and he squeezed his shoulder tightly before offering a response.

"I would say that the pleasure is all mine, however, this was Mr. Salvatore's idea," he said, as Damon's eyes met his for a brief second. "He may be a young one, but he's also got a bit of an _old soul_; and he seems to know _just _what the clients would want."

Damon licked his teeth at that before feigning a smile in Esther and Michel's direction; their gazes remained as still as stone.

"What can I say? I'm really good at reading people," Damon replied, to which Michel ticked his jaw placed his wine glass down.

"Is that so, Mr. Salvatore? Would you please tell me what _I'm _thinking right now, then?" the blonde-haired, blue-eyed man questioned, as his eyes shot daggers in Damon's direction. "Would it perhaps be about the way you spoke to my daughter last night at our eldest's book launch?"

Damon's eyes bounced between Michel's, Esther's, and Rebekah's, before he cleared his throat and sent a slight shrug.

"If I said anything to offend your… _pride and joy, _I apologize," he replied, as Mr. Mikaelson rolled his eyes. "I didn't mean to be so—"

"Rude? Brash? _Unprofessional_?" Esther cut in, before she turned towards Richard and shook her head. "Don't get me wrong—the dinner is wonderful; _if _that was even _his _idea. However, your employee speaking down to our daughter as if she is nothing is _completely_ unacceptable. We've invested millions with your company, Mr. Lockwood. And quite soon, that money will belong to _her. _So, tell me why we shouldn't just sever all ties, pack up, and look elsewhere to invest our funds?"

"And we _have _been looking elsewhere," Michel chimed in, as his eyes met Damon's. "Good thing, too. Because it seems as if this entire apology to Rebekah is a _joke _to Mr. Salvatore."

Damon felt his skin boiling the longer he looked into the man's eyes across the table. _Le Cercle _may have been one of the most lavish restaurants in all of Virginia, but it's innate beauty could do nothing to disrupt the ugliness that was about to occur between him and Michel if one more bout of snark was spat in his direction.

He _wanted _Rich to fire him; he wanted to be done with this terrible company, awful family, and all of the mistakes that he had made in the name of capitalism. He wanted a fresh start—a _new _one—somewhere completely different, where he wouldn't have to apologize for speaking how he felt and he wouldn't have to deal with the ghosts of intern's past. He just wanted to tell every person at this table to go fuck themselves and let that be that, as he made his way back home, in one last ditch effort to make things right with Bonnie, because he so predictably ruined her night.

_He just wanted to be with Bonnie. And because of her, it was the reason he was still here._

If he got fired from his position, there was no way in hell Rich would let him off scott-free. Even if he weren't indicted, he was sure he'd never be able to get another job, as the man would make it his business to completely tarnish Damon's name and reputation before he even got a word in edgewise. There would be no "starting over somewhere new," because if he wasn't Richard's, he wasn't _anybody's. _

He was quite literally in the details _with_ the devil.

And as much as he wanted to throw everything to hell, he just _couldn't, _when he realized it'd mean that he was throwing Bonnie away, too. If she knew everything there was to know about him, she'd be as good as gone.

It wouldn't matter who he was _now, _because who he _had been _was enough of a scumbag to make her sign those papers for a divorce right on the spot.

And he couldn't risk that; he couldn't risk never seeing her smile again. He couldn't risk not being able to have the chance to make her see the good that was within him, even though he was anything but an angel.

He needed her; he _wanted _her. And there was no way he'd be able to have her if he lost it all, right now. Because this was all so important—and it all came right back to _her._

_She was important._

"It's not a joke to me," Damon finally cut in, as Rich was trying his hand at damage control and so completely failing. "I don't think this is a funny, at all."

"Anything involving millions of dollars shouldn't be," Michel snapped back as his eyes narrowed in Damon's direction. "Our fortune wasn't built on our humor."

"And I apologize for mine," Damon said, before finally turning to face Rebekah, who was staring at him so intensely, he wasn't sure whether or not he'd actually burst into flames. "I'm… _sorry, _Rebekah. I'm sorry for the way I misspoke to you last night, at the event. It was incredibly immature of me to take my anger from another situation out on _you, _and I sincerely hope you can forgive me… I'd like to put everything behind us."

Rebekah blinked slowly as her blue eyes captured Damon's and she stared at him for a long while, as silence overcame the table for the first time all night. Her manicured fingers tapped along the table for a second, before Damon felt the heel of her shoe glide against the ankle of his pant leg. She gazed at him unapologetically before stirring her drink.

"I'm sure we can," she said, as she continued to look deeply into his eyes, while making small circles at his calf with the point of her shoe. "I'm not very good at holding grudges for too long, anyway."

Damon didn't say anything to that, as he cleared his throat and subtly pulled his leg back just bit, so it'd out of Rebekah's reach. She smiled at the gentle surprise behind his eyes.

"So it's settled," Richard said happily as he clapped his hands firmly together. "If you two are ready to let bygones be bygones, I say we propose a toast and enjoy the rest of this evening."

Rebekah offered a smirk in Damon's direction as she raised her glass, and Damon swallowed silently before raising his as well. Both Esther and Michel—neither too pleased by Damon's apology and Rebekah's quick acceptance of it—lifted theirs as well. Richard turned to Damon with a satisfied gleam in his eyes and nodded his way.

"How about you do this one? Like your apology, I'm sure it'll come straight from the heart."

Damon tugged at his bottom lip with his teeth before looking into the eyes of each Mikaelson and nodding.

"Yeah, absolutely—I can do that—"

"And what I can _absolutely _do, if Rebekah is up for it, is offer her a full-time position working in the accounting and finance department, now that she has successfully completed her MBA and her internship. She proved such a strong work ethic when Damon was her mentor, and I believe that it would be a _pleasure _to have her on board, _permanently._"

Damon's eyes shot towards Richard, who was too busy smiling admirably in the blonde's direction as she grinned with delight.

"That would be absolutely _fantastic._"

Damon let out an inaudible scoff and tried his best not to show a face that was marred with disappointment, but it was tough. Especially when he felt like hulking out, flipping this table over, and burning down everything in sight.

Was Richard completely trying to sabotage him? How the hell was he going to explain this to Bonnie?

"So it is settled then," Esther smiled, as she cleared her throat and Michel nodded with approval. "I propose a toast to Lockwood Industries—and it's welcoming of their newest addition to the accounting and finance department; my daughter Rebekah."

Their glasses clinked as Damon muttered a soft "cheers" and he inhaled slowly as he gulped down a bit of his red wine, before standing to his feet and faking a remorseful smile.

It had been all he'd known, this entire night.

"If you'll please pardon me, everyone. I just need to step out for a quick moment."

"Please hurry back," Rich said, as his brown eyes looked into Damon's. We're just about to start discussing Rebekah's training, and I'd love to hear your take on what you believe is necessary for her curriculum," he added with a smirk.

Damon forced a smile back.

"_How about we teach her to stop being such an obsessive, soul-sucking, brat?" Damon mentally recited to himself._

"As you wish, Sir," he said aloud with a bow. "Be back in a minute."

Damon pushed his chair in and was out the restaurant quicker than anyone could visually imagine, as he made his way through the front door and into the warm night; immediately pulling a cigarette and a lighter from the box in his pocket and illuminating it the second he placed it into his mouth.

Damon inhaled the familiar taste of the nicotine and exhaled a puff of smoke as he stood there next to the elaborate flower hedge. His eyes traveled to the fountains that decorated the entrance into the restaurant and he offered a small smile to himself when he thought of the memories tied to them.

He'd brought Bonnie on a date here once, after they were newly married, and _somehow _he'd lost a bet and as punishment, had to jump into the fountain.

He considered it _impossible, _because of how many valet workers were around and the place's tight security in general. He was convinced he'd get arrested.

But after much teasing and taunting from Bonnie, he went for it anyway; he dove right in, suit and all, and his head filled with the echo of her laugh and the yells from her lips when he pulled her in, too. They hid safely out of the view of any of the passing employees and shared a moment that he still hadn't forgotten about, to this day.

_Bonnie landed against Damon as his back pressed to the statue and she gasped as the water from the fountain splattered her completely and their eyes met._

"_You thought it was so funny, I figured you'd wanna join me," Damon said with a grin as Bonnie wiped the water from her face. "What's the matter, Mrs. Salvatore? Don't like the taste of your own medicine?"_

_Bonnie sent him an angry glare, though he was smiling all the while. He was about 99 percent sure she was going to punch him in the throat._

"_No, I don't—because _I _didn't lose that bet. _You _did."_

"_But we're married now, so what's mine is yours and yours is mine," he grinned. "We're in this together, aren't we?"_

_Bonnie slammed her fist at his chest and Damon laughed heartily as he caught most of it before impact and pulled her in tightly—his lips hovering just above hers. His hands brushed her soaking wet bangs away from her eyes and she pursed her lips to keep from smiling as they stared at one another for a moment._

_It almost felt like an eternity._

"_I hate you," she said clearly, as his hands planted at the sides of her peach dress. "I really hate you."_

"_But not half as much as you love me, right?" he questioned as her olive eyes shined beneath the moonlight. "That is why you married me, isn't it?"_

"_Nope," she lied, though a big smile was already upon her face. "I married you because you have a shit ton of money and you're _really _good in bed… I couldn't give a shit about the way my stomach still does this weird little backflip every time that I see you… Or the fact that I secretly love it when you do really embarrassing things like this and then drag me into it—because you are absolutely out of your mind."_

"_For you," Damon added, as he pulled her in closer and sent her that award-winning smile that he knew she just could never resist. "I am… out of my mind, batshit crazy, and completely insane for _you. _And I can't imagine my life being any other way, Bonnie."_

_She smiled before pressing her lips to his and Damon held her at the cheeks and their mouths continued to form against one another's repeatedly—even after the sprinklers were shut off. _

"_Do you think we'll be like this forever?" Bonnie finally asked, as she turned to face him; his raven hair matted to his forehead. "Do you think we'll… be able to still have fun?"_

_Damon turned to face her—never dropping her hand—and he nodded honestly. He believed it._

"_I don't see why not," he replied. "When I'm old and gray in a wheelchair, I'm pretty sure I'll still be trying to make you laugh like the way I do now."_

"_I'm serious, Damon—"_

"_So am I," he interrupted, as his eyes followed her own. "I know that the thing that breaks most marriages apart is when people aren't having fun anymore and I—I don't want to be those people. I _refuse _to be those people… I will always want to be us."_

_Bonnie smiled at that, and Damon placed a soft kiss to her forehead before he whispered against her skin._

"_You're the light of my life."_

_Bonnie pulled away at that and Damon eyed her curiously, before she placed a hand to his cheek and stroked it softly. Her eyes felt like _magnets—_just drawing him in, deeper and further—and he was completely enamored by then in this moment._

_Bonnie's lips pressed to his jaw and Damon shut his eyes as she pulled him into a hug; her mouth landed against his ear and awakened each and every sense in his body as they stood quietly for a moment; ignoring the sound of the approaching guards who were yelling at them to get out of the water. _

"_That's impossible," she said softly as his eyes opened and he felt her breath against his skin. "I'm pretty sure you're _mine."

Damon exhaled a puff of smoke and his ears listened to the familiar sound of a pair of heels approaching, as they clicked against the pavement and became louder and louder, as they neared him.

He didn't have to turn around to see who it was, for he already knew; the scent of her perfume tipped him off the very moment she stood behind him. He pressed his cigarette into the outdoor ashtray and cleared his throat, as he continued to stare off into the distance.

"Did they send you out here to check up on me? If everyone is really that concerned, I think we can get me an ankle bracelet to make sure I'm not violating my probation," Damon said slickly as the sound of her heels finally stopped. "What do you want?"

"_To apologize,_" he heard, and his brows furrowed immediately at that. _"Not for what you said to me, but perhaps for the way I handled it. It was childish."_

"You think?" Damon asked as he finally whipped around to see her; her pale face glowing beneath the moon, and her full red lips pressed together as her oceanic eyes stared at him seriously.

He didn't care _how _gorgeous she was—the fact that she was so immature drove him absolutely crazy, and he wondered just how high he had been every night in Dubai when he thought it would be a good idea to get as close as he did to this girl. She was fucking senseless and he knew it; but somehow, he didn't care back then. He wanted _anything _to help quell the pain of his distant wife, and _she _proved to be just the trick because she _wanted _to help him.

She wanted to _be with him, _and as selfish as it was of him to take advantage of on that idea, he did it anyway. Because he was desperate. Because she was _willing._

"We're co-workers now, Rebekah; just when I was finally beginning to get my life back, and I have _no idea _how I'm going to explain it to Bonnie that Rich just _hired you. _Do you _really _not care about the fact that I can't be around you; that I _need _to stay away from you?"

Rebekah licked her tongue across her pearly white teeth and tucked a strand of her platinum blonde hair behind her ear.

She stepped in closer to meet his eyes.

"You said that I had _nothing _to do with your marriage, Damon, so why _should _I care? I need a job and Richard offered one. It isn't my problem if you or your wife can't handle the reality of what you did—and it isn't any of my concern, either."

"So, that's what this is about?" Damon asked as he straightened up and shook his head. "You're feeling a little vengeful and a bit vindictive—"

"I'm feeling like somebody who got hurt by the person that they _loved,_" Rebekah cut in and Damon's mouth pressed shut. "I… _loved you, _Damon. I fell in love with _you, _because you _wanted me _to. And somehow, you make it seem like it's my entire fault; like I'm the one who was wrong when _you're _the one who was supposed to be married!"

Damon didn't respond to that as her blue eyes glowed with anger and she shook her head angrily; as if she were shaking away all of the memories and feelings that she had developed for him.

_The feelings that never went away at all._

And he knew this was his fault; he knew that he strung Rebekah along only to hurt her in the end, and words couldn't begin to describe how much he hated himself for that. He hated the fact that she loved somebody as screwed up as him and he hated that he'd been the one to make it happen.

_Especially when the person he loved and would always love was the woman he'd walked down the aisle with._

But admitting that he screwed up was admitting the biggest thing he'd always believed in his heart, though he'd never had the courage to say it to Bonnie herself; and that was the fact that he believed he was all wrong for her.

He was a liar, an asshole, and he may as well had been a cheater too because he was completely fucked up and the reason Bonnie didn't remember him at all was _because of him._

_It was all because of him._

Damon shook his head as he went to turn away, but Rebekah brought him back, as her hand landed on his neck and her eyes met his.

He stared at her blankly before she let her fingers drop from his skin and she searched his eyes.

"I never wanted to be the one to make you unhappy," Rebekah said so softly, he almost didn't hear it. "I'm… different than her, Damon; and what you _feel _around me—that's different too, isn't it?"

Damon shut his eyes as he looked down. He heard Rebekah sigh.

"What do you want from me?" he asked, before looking back up. "Another apology? A hug? A new Mercedes? What the hell can I do to make this _stop_—"

"You," Rebekah said, as she moved in and bit her lip. "I don't want or need _anything _other than _you, _Damon—"

"Rebekah, don't," Damon warned, as he waved his hand and shook his head. "Don't do this. I'm asking you not to."

"And I've been doing a lot of what _you _want, but what about what I feel? What about the fact that I can't just _stop, _as if you never meant anything to me," she said as Damon listened silently. "And I know that someday, you'll let yourself admit it, too; you'll admit that you fell for me. You'll admit that your marriage isn't all that you believe it to be and Bonnie—she may be good, but she isn't good for _you._ And she never has been… How long will it be before you see that?"

Damon remained stoic as his stare captured Rebekah's before he placed his hand to the side of her jaw. Rebekah shut her eyes as his fingers trailed along her cheek—gently grazing her skin and moving in slow but defined circles, before they landed at her chin and she stared at him again.

Damon moved in closer—_much closer—_than he had before and her eyes never separated from his as he looked down at her so attentively, he felt the shiver that echoed at her spine.

_He felt it all._

"Damon—" she started, and his index pressed to her lips as he moved in again; staring at her so _strongly, _he was sure just his look could turn her into stone if he wanted to.

_And he wanted to, for sure._

"You might know _all _there is to know about me—or at least you _think _you do," Damon started as he looked into her eyes. "But you don't know a _damn _thing about my wife or what I share with her… So _I _suggest you keep her name out of your mouth, if you know what's best for you… I'll see you inside, Rebekah."

Damon's finger dropped and she stared at him wide-eyed for a moment before she turned on her heel and walked away; leaving Damon alone again.

_It was honestly the most relieved he'd felt all night._

He quickly pulled out his cell phone and dialed a phone number faster than the speed of light; waiting and listening as it rang, before the recipient picked up and he exhaled a sigh of relief.

"_Is dinner over so soon? I've never known my family to make such a quick and painless exit," _Klaus said and Damon scoffed as he shook his head and began to pace the ground.

"Not quite; I'll explain the gory details tomorrow. But I need you to do me a favor," Damon said, as he glanced once more at the fountain and then tapped his fingers against the phone. _"Do you remember where I leave my spare house key?..."_

XXXXX

"_You're on a different road, I'm in the Milky Way  
You want me down on Earth, but I am up in space  
You're so damn hard to please, we gotta kill this switch  
You're from the 70's, but I'm a 90's bitch  
I don't care, I love it!"_

Bonnie danced happily with the mic in hand, and she garnered the cheers from her friends, as she laughed from the stage but continued the song.

She told herself that she was going to have fun tonight, and she was doing just that, as she sipped her Tequila Sunrise in-between verses, and moved with the beat as if her life depended on it.

"_Go, Bon!" _she heard Caroline shout from the seats before them, and Bonnie pointed to her with a smirk on her face, as she watched Elijah still clapping along, and Stefan smirking the minute they caught eyes.

Bonnie hopped off the stage and bowed the minute the song ended as Caroline whistled obnoxiously, Elijah nodded in appreciation, and Stefan raised a simple eyebrow, before she plopped down next to him with a drunken grin on her face. Caroline were already busy looking through the digital songbook and Elijah was reluctantly agreeing with everything the blonde was saying, though by the look on his face, he thought she was absolutely out of her mind.

Bonnie laughed to herself at that before she turned to face Stefan. He eyed her curiously and Bonnie bit back a smile, as did he.

"What's that?" she asked as she stared at him and his thick brows furrowed with confusion as he looked at her.

"What's _what?_"

"That _look _you have on your face," she said, as she inspected him a bit closer. "Are you laughing at me?" she accused as Stefan let out a chuckle and shook his head.

"I wasn't before, but I think that I am now," he said honestly, as she scoffed and folded her arms over her chest. "You were really…_interesting _up there."

"Interesting _how? _Like a _clown?" _she asked, and Stefan laughed again as his green eyes met hers. "Clowns are interesting."

"I didn't say _that._ I meant… you looked like you were having fun. It's… been a long time since I've seen you smile like that and—"he stopped as Bonnie's eyes were so transfixed on his, it made his head dizzy. "It's nice to see you smile, even after my brother canceled on you. That's all."

Bonnie swallowed hard at the lump in her throat at the mention of Damon, but she shrugged flippantly, as though it didn't faze her. Sure, this was technically she and Damon's date however, she wasn't going to let the fact that he bailed disrupt her good time.

She deserved to have fun after all that she had been through last night, and she'd be damned if she spent the entire time here sulking because his job and his priorities got the better of him again.

_Fuck that._

She wanted to fix things with him; she was committed to doing so. However, she wouldn't be a fool for him again, and that meant carrying on with her life in instances like these, as if it had never stopped.

Damon could only break her heart as much as she let him; and she didn't plan on letting him do that, at all.

"The show must go on, right?" she finally said, as she clanked glasses with Stefan and he smiled. "Besides—if I let myself get depressed every time somebody in life let me down, I'd probably be a pain and a half to be around."

He looked deeply into her eyes as she sipped her drink before she separated it from her lips and he swiped his thumb across the corner of her mouth to rid her of the excess alcohol.

Bonnie smiled gratefully, and Stefan ticked his jaw at that as he sat up straighter. They just looked at each other for a solid few seconds before he uttered a word.

"Happiness looks good on you," he finally said, as her eyes lit up. "I think it's your best look."

Bonnie didn't say anything as their eyes locked once more, and she was only broken out of the trance by the sound of Caroline's bubbly voice and her hands clapping together.

"So, what do you say if we do one more song and then blow this joint? Elijah is _dying _to do _Eye of the Tiger, _and personally, I say who are we to deny the man his final wish?" she grinned.

Elijah bit his lip at that as he faced Caroline with a gentle smile and shook his head.

"I never said I was doing _Eye of the Tiger. _You said I _should _do it."

"And _I _think that I only suggested it because I was reading your mind, so it's _kind of _like you agreed to it on your own, no?" she asked with a flirty grin as he rolled his eyes playfully towards her. "Come on—you haven't done a _single _song! Even _Stefan _did Bon Jovi."

"That I did," Stefan chimed in. "And it didn't completely suck."

"That's what you think," Bonnie said with a snort and Stefan pinched her arm playfully before she let out a laugh and Caroline smiled at the exchange between them, before beaming in Elijah's direction.

"Please? With cherries on top?"

Elijah pursed his lips as the blonde stared at him optimistically and he sighed before waving a hand and dismissing it all.

"Or here's a better idea; how about you and _Bonnie _do the song, and then we leave—go to that salsa dancing place up the road you were talking about, and I promise to show you all that I've got. I'm much better at dancing, anyway."

Caroline's eyes widened as she looked into his and laughed softly.

"_You dance?"_

"Yeah, what of it?" Elijah asked as she giggled. "But if you keep doubting me, I'll just change my mind—"

"Fine! Bonnie and I will sing; right, Bon?" Caroline asked as she rose to her feet and Bonnie shrugged before rising as well.

"Anything for my best friend, right?"

Caroline smiled as she grabbed Bonnie's hand and they were off to grab their microphones, as Stefan leaned back and Elijah slid on the couch so that he was next to him, just as the performance started.

The girls were immediately into it, as Caroline did the main vocals and Bonnie provided back-up dancer support, with the two occasionally switching off and bursting into laughter at each other's moves every time there were no lyrics.

Elijah glanced at Stefan periodically and noticed his eyes entirely set on Bonnie, as the girl danced lightheartedly, and even sent him a few goofy smiles from across the way. Elijah finally cleared his throat, and Stefan faced him with question, as the doctor then looked ahead.

"So, where's Damon tonight? Miss Forbes told me this would be a double date with him and Bonnie, but I see that your brother is nowhere to be found," he said, as Stefan sipped his drink and watched the girls singing.

"Something came up—probably with his job… My brother is the biggest workaholic I know—his job matters more than anything," he responded.

Elijah licked his teeth at that as he nodded and folded his arms over his jacket.

"But not more than Bonnie, right? I mean—when my associate—Dr. Fell—gave him a call while he was on business to Dubai, he was on the next flight home after Bonnie's accident. The man's got heart, I believe... He has one for _her_, anyway."

Stefan didn't respond to that as he polished off his beer and Elijah continued to stare at him silently; almost as if he were _studying _him, completely voluntarily.

Stefan saw enough doctors in his lifetime to know when they were trying to dissect him or not, and even with the man's attempt at small talk, he knew Elijah wasn't any different.

So, if he were going to "observe" him, he figured he'd give him something good to ponder about.

"Damon's a good person—probably one of the best that I know," Stefan said confidently, as Elijah continued to listen on. "He may have made some mistakes in his life—with Bonnie, with _your sister_—but it doesn't mean he's heartless. He's just… _lost, _I think. He's been this way since our mom died, years ago. He just has a knack for hurting people—just like he's been hurt."

Elijah contemplated that for a second, as his tongue coursed over his teeth and Stefan played with the empty beer glass.

"My _sister?" _

Stefan looked up; Elijah's eyes staring at him in question before he exhaled and blinked softly.

"She told me what he said to her—about her meaning _nothing_ to him, and I-I'm sorry… I don't know what went on between him and her; I don't even know if _you _know… But your sister is a friend to me—and Bonnie's my _best friend. _And the last thing I want is for either of them to get _hurt_… Bonnie, especially. It's been so long since Bonnie has been like this and she deserves it; she deserves to be happy," Stefan said lowly as he glanced Bonnie's direction. "Damon's my brother—my _best friend_—but I can't always protect him. And I can't save him from himself."

Elijah remained silent at that and before they knew it Bonnie and Caroline were happily bouncing back over, as the two men rose from their seats and Caroline glanced between them.

"So, we hate to interrupt your _male bonding_, but are we ready to go? We can get in at least two hours of dancing if we leave now," she said, as she grabbed her bag and Elijah nodded, as he quickly watched Bonnie and Stefan chatting from the corner of his eye—Stefan brushing back Bonnie's bangs as she laughed and slapped his hand away.

He cleared his throat with a feigned smile.

"Eager, are we? Perhaps I've changed my mind about dancing," he joked, as she took his hand into hers, and placed her bag over her shoulder, while the four walked out of the karaoke bar.

"Excuse me if I'm a woman on a mission," she grinned as they walked down the pavement and into the warm night. "You just seem so…"

"Uptight?" he asked as she bit her lip. "You believe I am a little bit of a wet rag."

"I never said that," Caroline pointed, as she let out an involuntary laugh. "But it'd be nice to see you let loose, you know? Like Bonnie, for instance," she motioned at her friend who was a few feet ahead of them, talking animatedly with Stefan while the two carried on their own conversation. "I thought she'd be _destroyed _that Damon couldn't make it, but she's having a _great _time and that's all I wanted, for her… It's been so long since she's been so _alive, _you know?"

Elijah licked his lips at that as a silence passed between the two of them.

"So I've heard," he said, as Caroline turned to face him with probing eyes. "Stefan is quite knowledgeable when it comes to her."

"Yeah, he's one of her best friends from college—he and Bonnie are really close."

Elijah remained quiet as he watched the two in front of him.

"Did they _date, _or…?"

"Oh, god no," Caroline dismissed that idea with a quick shake of the head. "Why would you think that? Aren't a man and a woman allowed to be _close _without any romantic or sexual connotations, _Doc?_" she asked and Elijah pursed his lips as he nodded.

"Of course—but it's not very likely when one of them believes it should be more."

Caroline's brows furrowed at that before she scoffed in disbelief.

"Seriously? You think Stefan and/or Bonnie are into each other? On what planet?"

Elijah watched on as Stefan's arm slipped over Bonnie's shoulder and he paid the admission for the two to get into the salsa club.

When he and Caroline walked up, he paid as well, before the hostess grabbed his jacket and the blonde gave in her bag to hold in the coat check.

When they walked onto the dance floor, Stefan was already spinning Bonnie around as she laughed loudly, before he pulled her in with both hands and they moved in closer.

So close, her chest was pressed to his, and his hands were dipped at her waist, sinking onto her lower back with ease. Caroline didn't think much of that until she noticed the way the two were looking into each other's eyes.

Stefan was looking at Bonnie as if she were the first woman he'd ever seen before; with that historic glint in his gaze, and charming grin that could melt even the toughest of glaciers.

_The amount of admiration in his stare was mind-numbing. Caroline couldn't believe she'd never seen it before._

Stefan mouthed something into her ear that she expertly read with her eyes from a distance.

"_You look really beautiful, tonight."_

Caroline swallowed hard at that before turning to Elijah and the man nodded knowingly before taking her hand into his and bringing her in for a dance.

"Tell me now, do they look like _just friends _to you?"

XXXXX

"Thanks for taking me home," Bonnie said, as Caroline's car pulled into her driveway and she turned off the headlights. "You didn't have to, though; I feel bad for intruding on your time with Elijah."

Caroline offered her a gentle smile as she shook her head furiously.

"Bonnie, I swear its _fine, _okay? You're drunk—and I didn't want anything to happen to you on your way back… Elijah and I—we'll figure something out."

Bonnie nodded at that as she looked into Caroline's eyes and detected a hint of sadness behind them. She immediately scrunched her brows and lowered the radio.

"Is everything okay with him?" Bonnie asked suddenly as Caroline looked away. "I know I'm kind of drunk but I think I can still be a good listener—if you wanna talk," she added hopefully as Caroline let out a short laugh and looked back up again. "Did something happen?"

Caroline swallowed at that as her perfectly manicured fingers drummed at her steering wheel before she finally decided to kill the engine. She turned towards Bonnie and looked into her glossy eyes that were marked with clear concern.

This probably _wasn't _the best time to bring this up, but Caroline wasn't exactly one for secrets or holding things back from her friends. If she wanted to say something, she most likely _did; _despite the fallout that could have occurred afterwards.

And when it came to this, she just _needed _to know if what she _thought _she saw earlier was all in she and Elijah's heads.

_She prayed to God it was._

"We… had a talk," she said gently as Bonnie sat up straighter and Caroline bit her lip. "It was about _you… _and Stefan."

Bonnie's eyes squinted at that.

"What was this talk about?"

"I don't want to jump to conclusions, Bonnie—"

"_Caroline,_" she interrupted firmly, and the blonde pressed her lips into a thin line as Bonnie cocked her head and stared at her intensely. "What did Elijah say?"

Caroline let out a short but nervous laugh as she shook her head at the incredulity of it all.

_She felt absolutely ridiculous even thinking this was a possibility._

"Nothing's ever… _happened _between you and Stefan, right?" she asked, as Bonnie's eyes widened immediately and Caroline held up both of her hands. "Before you think I'm insane, let me finish—"

"Are you out of your fucking mind, Caroline?" Bonnie asked bluntly as the blonde inhaled and tapped her foot anxiously. "Stefan is my _best friend; _he's brothers with my _husband—_I'm _married_!"

"I know Bonnie, I know," Caroline eased as she took the girl's hands into her own and wrapped them tightly; feeling the heat radiating from her skin. "But… it was just kind of _weird _tonight, the way he was around you at the karaoke bar and salsa club. And Elijah said—"

"So this is about Elijah—your _doctor boyfriend_—overanalyzing a _friendship?" _Bonnie asked. "Caroline—you _know _me—okay? You even said it earlier that I would never do that to Damon; you know _everything about me. _Why, all of a sudden, did you change your mind? Why _now _do you think differently?"

"Because you don't remember the reason why you wanted a divorce!" Caroline yelled abruptly, as Bonnie sat taken aback by the emotion in the girl's eyes. "Y-You didn't even tell _me _you were getting a divorce—or that you sent him those papers. Or that you _avoided _Damon for like two weeks when he was away and you told him not to call you. And forgive me for being so _paranoid _about it, but… you never stopped hanging out with _Stefan. _He was _always there _when Damon wasn't—I remember it. Do you think that you… developed feelings for him and maybe you felt so _guilty _about it that you wanted to leave Damon?"

Bonnie shook her head as she ripped her hands out of Caroline's.

"No," Bonnie said strongly, as her hand touched the door handle. "We're not coming up with conspiracy theories because of what you and Elijah _think _you saw tonight. Because as far as _I know, _Stefan is just a friend; one that I've _never _had romantic feelings towards and I never will. Don't plant that seed."

"I'm not planting anything, Bonnie! I just—I want to get to the bottom of this as much as you do. And I—I think that there are a lot of things you're blocking out of your head because _maybe _you couldn't deal with them. I'm not _accusing you—"_

"Really?" Bonnie asked, with wild green eyes and an angry stare. "Because it sounds like you _are—_and of everyone who thinks that I'm just _crazy _right now, you were the last person I expected to stop believing in me," she said as she opened her door and Caroline frowned. "I—I need to go—"

"Bonnie—"

"Thanks for the ride. I'll have Damon drop me off to pick up my car tomorrow," she said before she slammed the door and walked up the driveway.

Caroline's car didn't move immediately and she felt the girl's eyes still focused on her, before finally, the engine started again. When Bonnie finally slid her key into the lock and turned the knob to open the door, she saw Caroline's lights go on and the car back out slowly, just as she walked into the house.

Bonnie let out a sigh as her hands shook with irritation, and she slipped off her shoes before she hung her keys on the hook.

_This was just too much to deal with in one night._

What the hell had she done to make Caroline believe that she and Stefan had a thing, when the two had been behaving the same exact way that they always had for years?

All she knew was that she was way too drunk and annoyed to think about that; and she wasn't psychotic enough to even _consider it _a half-truth.

Absolutely not.

Bonnie flicked on the light to the dark hallway and she felt her phone buzz in her bag before she pulled it out and glanced at the message.

It was from Caroline, naturally.

"_I'm sorry."_

Bonnie shook her head before placing it back into her bag and ignoring it. Perhaps she'd get to that in the morning, but definitely not tonight.

Tonight she just wanted to change, get in bed, and cuddle with her Kindle. She hoped Damon wouldn't be home too late from his dinner, but at the same time, she hoped she was passed out before he got in.

She just couldn't stand the thought of hearing about Rebekah or any of the other Mikaelson's at this point.

_Elijah, now included. _

She made a move to step forward, but she was stopped when a pair of hands covered her eyes from the back, and her heart immediately leapt out of her chest.

_What the fuck?_

"Who—"she started, as she wrestled to move, but he held her tightly within his grip right along his body, before she smelled the familiar scent of his favorite cologne and her body eased when he leaned in towards her ear.

_It was Damon, of course._

"You shouldn't sneak up on a woman like that," she informed with a bit of a bite to her voice as he continued to block her vision. "Especially not one who's taken _jiu jitsu."_

Damon laughed at that as he guided her walking towards their living room before his lips pressed to her ear and he offered a slight whisper.

"I'm thinking you need a refresher, then… you weren't very good at fending me off just now."

"Maybe I'll get better as the night progresses," she snapped back as she walked blindly. "You know what they say about a woman scorned."

"I do," Damon eased as they finally came to a complete stop. "But what do they say about a man in love?"

Bonnie felt his hands finally uncover her eyes and she looked around with pure shock and surprise at the formally modern living room that was now decorated with cheesy ruby red beaded curtains, fluorescent peace signs hanging on the walls, lava lamps on the mantle of the fireplace, and even a disco ball hanging from the ceiling.

She whipped around to see Damon, who was setting up an old-school record player and dressed in none other than a tacky button-up shirt, with bright blue bell-bottom pants on and a matching jacket. His hair was slicked over his forehead, and his rose-colored shades were probably the size of her head.

It was safe to say she felt like she had stepped into the twilight zone.

"What the hell are you wearing?" she asked in pure shock, before he grabbed a fake microphone and spun his way over towards her. "What _is _this?"

"A seventies disco, obviously," he said with a grin, as she remained dumbfounded. "I figured since I missed the karaoke party, I would… embarrass myself otherwise."

Bonnie remained stunned as Damon's hand led her to the couch, before he swiped a _Foxy Brown _styled-wig and a pair of shades for her; fixating them over her hair and face as she tried not to lose a lung from laughing so hard.

"For the _Pam Grier _in my life, of course," he winked, as Bonnie patted the fro and shook her head.

"If anyone walked n and saw this, I think we'd _both _get committed."

"Good thing you're _mine _for the night then," Damon said, as the music began to start and he stared at her expectantly. "You ready for this?"

"No," she said, with a smile so wide that her cheeks hurt from trying to contain it. "I was never ready."

"Most people aren't," he said before he cleared his throat and Bonnie doubled over with laughter the minute he started dancing in tune with the funk blasting from the speakers.

"This isn't even 70s!" she yelled, with a shake of her head. "It's _Bruno Mars_!"

"You shut your mouth, _Treasure _is an absolute _masterpiece,_" Damon danced as she clasped both hands over her mouth when he began belting out the lyrics.

"_Give me your, give me your, give me your attention, baby  
I gotta tell you a little something about yourself  
You're wonderful, flawless, ooh, you're a sexy lady  
But you walk around here like you wanna be someone else" _

Bonnie gave in as she began to clap and sing along once he got to the chorus, and she realized the look of pure satisfaction on his face once she was finally getting into it. Damon stuck his hand out for hers and Bonnie reluctantly complied—though she was grinning ear to ear all the while—as he pulled her up and they started to dance.

He did everything from The Sprinkler, to The Running man, to even that _outrageous _Hammer Time dance and Bonnie couldn't help but stop and clutch her stomach with pain when her muscles tightened from laughing so hard.

She definitely doubted whether or not she'd make it out of this alive.

_Never again._

When the music finally ended, she shook her head at him in disbelief before he took both her hands and pulled her closer in towards him. She slowly pulled off his glasses before taking off her own and the wig before looking straight into his eyes.

He was staring right back.

"I apologize, about earlier," he said, in reference to the dinner. "And I know this craziness that I had Klaus set-up before I got home doesn't _excuse it, _but I hope it… shows you that I _do _care—I care about you, too."

Bonnie didn't say anything but she nodded at that, when both his hands landed on her neck and his fingers danced along her throat.

She mindlessly swayed with the softer song that was playing, while Damon did as well—never taking his eyes off of hers as they moved.

"Did you have fun?" he asked. "Did you even _sing?_"

"Pft, of course I did," she said as he smiled softly. "Ironically enough, I did that song where they sing about crashing their car on the bridge… I'm getting a little bit more humorous in my endeavors, I think."

Damon smiled as he spun her around slowly before bringing her back into his arms. She slid her hold over his shoulders just as his landed at her waist. Bonnie cleared her throat as she looked into his bluer-than-blue eyes.

"How was dinner with the _Mikaelson's?_" she asked, with thinly veiled bitterness in her tone. "Did Rebekah like her apology?"

Damon shrugged as he remembered the conversation between them, before he held onto Bonnie tighter.

"I honestly don't care," he said, as he looked into her eyes. "She accepted it in front of Rich and her parents, but what I know about the girl is that she doesn't let things go so easily… She's got her nose everywhere."

Bonnie scoffed at that as she thought about Elijah.

"I'm beginning to think that's what they're all about," she said, as he raised a brow but she shook her head indifferently. "I don't want to talk about Rebekah or Elijah anymore. Not tonight."

Damon nodded in relief at that, as her fingers tightened around his. His head pressed to hers gently and Bonnie felt the gentle breath from his lips traveling to hers, the more they closed in the distance.

"What _do _you wanna do? And does it involve _me?_" Damon winked as she rolled her eyes.

"_Not _in that suit," she said as his nose wrinkled. "You look like _Austin Powers _and I am _not _with that."

"Oh, come on," Damon pouted, as he took a step back and fashioned it before her once more. "I think I look a little sexy."

"You look like an ass," she said with a smile. "A complete and total—"

Her speech was stopped when his mouth pressed to hers, and Bonnie immediately clutched him at the shoulders when her back pressed against the wall.

She rendered it virtually _impossible _to verbalize the way she felt when his hands gripped at her sides and neared the zipper of her skinny jeans, before he slid his fingers inside and she shut her eyes.

Bonnie breathed deeply when his mouth planted against her neck, and she struggled to stay on two feet when she felt his teeth graze along her throat, before he completely tore her blouse away.

She mourned the loss of one of her favorite shirts but quickly got over it when her own hands started for his belt, and their lips crashed against each other's again; sopping up the mixture of margaritas, mojitos, and whatever the hell else she indulged herself with at the karaoke bar.

Bonnie pulled away from his lips for a second to run her fingers through his messy hair and she shook her head.

"We're not doing it in _here. _It looks like a 70s Porn Palace."

Damon's mouth dropped at that before he laughed and pressed his lips to her bare shoulder.

"Why not? It'll be _nostalgic. _And a really funny story for the future."

Bonnie punched at his chest.

"You think I'm telling people I slept with you after this?" she asked. "You're lucky _I'm _telling you about it."

Damon watched as she crossed her arms stubbornly and he nodded in acceptance.

"Fine, where to? Kitchen?"

"We _eat there,_" she said. "Try again."

"Bedroom and/or bathroom are out—that was done about five times today," he said as she tapped her foot. "Basement?"

"It's cold down there."

"God damn't Bonnie, I don't think you'll be concerned with the heat once I'm done with you," he said as his hands planted onto her sides and an idea clicked into his head. "What about the car? Are you feeling up for a little _teenage frisking?_" he asked and Bonnie pursed her lips but didn't deny the idea.

It actually sounded like it could have been fun.

"Fine," she agreed, as he immediately took her hand and they walked towards the door to the garage. "But you _have _to take off that outfit—I don't think I can get turned on looking at a _Michael Kelso _reject," she said as he opened the door to the darkened area and led her out to it.

Damon opened the door to his 1969 Chevy Camaro and her forehead wrinkled as he nodded for her to get inside.

"Not the Range Rover? I don't even remember ever _being _in this car," she said, as she climbed in.

"Oh, but you will. Maybe. We had a lot of good memories in the Chevy… it's what I usually drove when I first met you… Passed on down from my grandfather to me," he said as she offered a light smile. "You used to think it was badass."

"Maybe I was just amazed at the fact that it hadn't broken down yet," she said, as her fingers grazed along the seats before looking into his eyes. "It's quite the antique."

"I like to kick it old school sometimes," he winked and Bonnie shook her head as he locked the door and gazed at her beside him in the backseat. "Memories are important."

Bonnie nodded at that, as she took his hand into her own; brushing her fingers against his skin as they sat in silence.

"I wish I had mine back," she confessed, before looking into his eyes. "I wish… all of this wasn't so _hard _for us. It gets so damn tiring fighting to remember who you were and what you did—_what you felt."_

Damon didn't say anything to that as he watched his and Bonnie's hands conjoining, separating, and brushing fleetingly across one another's for the next minute or so. He finally cleared his throat as her glare met his and he offered a smile.

"We can make new memories," he said positively. "We can… stop trying to remember the past and just move on with our future—we have the chance to start over, Bonnie."

Bonnie inhaled at that before she shook her head and bit her lip.

"That isn't fair to _you, _Damon—asking you to pretend like none of this ever existed before; like it's _new. _What about you—"

"Whoever said love was fair?" he asked, as his hand cupped her chin and he stroked along her skin. "Bonnie—I want to be with you; no matter _what _it takes to get there… And I don't want you feel like the fact that you can't remember _me _is something that holds us back. We don't have to talk about _any _of the past—not if you don't want to."

Bonnie let out a sigh before shaking her head.

"It's not right; we can't just _start over_ when you know me, Damon; you _love _me—"

"Of course I do," he said, as he searched her eyes solemnly. "But how much does it hurt you knowing that you can't reciprocate that? That I… talk about something you just _don't feel _yet?"

Bonnie breathed in but she didn't say a word.

It hurt a lot, actually, despite how much she liked to convince herself that this was a _good _kind of pain and hearing about her forgotten past would help her to recollect it.

It'd done nothing but hollowed the hole she already felt in her heart.

"So, what are we gonna do? Pretend that we don't know each other, so I can feel better?"

"We're not gonna force something to come back that you might never remember again," he said, with a certain ease to his voice. "I want us to move forward, without constantly looking back for hints of the past."

Bonnie blinked softly at that before his lips pressed to hers and her skin electrified at the feeling of his touch against her. She pulled away slightly as his head touched hers and her hands pulled off his jacket before her fingers fumbled with the buttons to his shirt.

She ended up just tearing it apart.

"So what are we doing here, then, trying to stir up old memories?"

Bonnie moaned when she felt him pull away his and her pants, and she let out a sharp sigh when he pulled her on top of him; his hands clutched at her arms.

From her wrists, to her stomach, to her neck, to her chest—Damon felt it all, as his fingers explored her and she exhaled shakily each time he passed over fresh territory.

"I'm not trying to do anything, Bonnie; I just want to have sex with you."

She gasped when he pushed her back against the seat, and her legs tightened at his waist when he pushed into her; she tried to formulate some words or sounds—_or anything—_but realized it was worthless the minute she shut her eyes and Damon sucked her tongue.

If she wasn't speechless before, she definitely was _now; _no question about that.

Damon whispered something into her ear and she nodded mindlessly, though she had no real clue what the hell he had said. All she knew was that she'd probably blush if she repeated it aloud, and his saucy words were best left to her imagination if she didn't want to erupt into flames the next time she went into a church.

He brushed her bangs away from her face with one hand and Bonnie caught his fingers with her teeth, to which Damon hissed.

"Rude," he said, as Bonnie smiled before her lips met his ear.

"_You can't be the only one."_

He smirked at that; took it as an actual _challenge, _as he used all of his force to pin her at the shoulders before he pushed a little harder. It almost felt like her body was going to snap in half.

_In a good way, of course._

When she uttered his name against his lips—for the first time, since it started—Damon gleamed with accomplishment before kissing her longer, and holding in the wince of pain as her nails dug into his back.

If she kept doing that, this was going to last all of thirty more seconds, he was sure.

Damon grabbed her hands and pinned them above her. Bonnie breathed erratically as she looked into his eyes before his mouth dove against her collarbone.

"_Easy, Tigresa."_

Bonnie smiled at that as his mouth traveled further down her skin and she clutched onto his hair the minute her thighs tightened at his head.

"_Fine… Just this once."_

XXXXX

Bonnie yawned tiredly when her eyes fluttered open, and she lifted her head from Damon's bare chest—only now realizing that they were still in the back of his car, but they must have fallen asleep after all was done.

She blinked slowly as her hand glided along his abs and Damon stirred gently; his fingers immediately finding her hair, and stroking it as she lay on top of him.

She officially was thankful for the fact that this was a _huge _backseat.

They laid in silence for a few moments—as his fingers tapped along her bare back and she stared at nothing as he did so. Damon's voice finally broke the silence.

"Ready to go inside?" he asked as she stared ahead.

"Yeah, in a minute," Bonnie promised, as her eyes surveyed the interior of the vehicle lazily.

She felt Damon's lips kiss the top of her head and her body warmed with gratitude as he did.

She was always a fan of the little things, as far as she knew; and she was always a sucker for a man who wasn't afraid to show the most innocent of affections.

_Even if he had also proven that he could get totally raunchy._

Bonnie finally sat up, as did Damon, and she stretched her arms before she turned to face him.

"Should we get dressed?"

Damon scoffed at that before he ruffled her hair and shook his head.

"You _really _are adorable sometimes."

Bonnie pursed her lip to hide her grin and he gave her a sweet kiss before grabbing all of their clothes and opening the door to get out.

"After you,_ Mademoiselle." _

Bonnie rolled her eyes as she got out and made her way back into the house through the door, with Damon just behind her. She glanced at the clock quickly before walking up the stairs and heading for the bathroom to wash up. She heard Damon doing the same in the other one just down the hall.

When she was all done, Bonnie made her way to their bedroom, where she slipped on a t-shirt and a pair of boy shorts. Damon was there no more than five minutes later in just his Ralph Lauren's, and she breathed refreshingly before plopping down into their bed and on the plethora of pillows.

She watched silently as he faced the mirror; smoothing his hands through his hair and patting on some aftershave over his cleanly bare cheeks. She was convinced she'd never met a man who kept up with his appearance _more _as she took in all of Damon's little nuances and beauty rituals.

She couldn't say that she hated it, either. Not at all.

"Trying to look good for your dreams?" she asked, as he finally turned around, turned off the light, and climbed into their king size bed.

"Well, that depends—do you plan on being in them?" he asked.

Bonnie snorted at that as he lay on his pillow facing her; his blue eyes were still so _electric_; even in the dark.

"I think you've had enough of me today."

"And _I _think you don't give yourself enough credit."

Bonnie stared into his eyes silently at that, before he took her hand into his and laced their fingers. She watched as he shut his eyes and prepared to settle into a deep sleep, though his mouth was ready for anything but.

"I meant what I said before," Damon said softly; her eyes still fixated on him. "About… moving on from the past, if you want to."

Bonnie's lips pursed at that but she didn't say a thing in response.

She _couldn't._

"It'll be hard, for me," he admitted, with eyes still shut. "Trying to… push all of the things I know about us to the back of my mind… but if it's what I need to do to help you _cope _with this, Bonnie, I will. I don't want you to feel bad for me," he said in a near whisper.

Bonnie nestled her head even deeper against the pillow, as her heart threatened to leap out of her chest. She clutched his hand tighter as she continued to look at him.

She just needed to sleep on this; maybe that was all that she really wanted, right now.

"We'll talk about it tomorrow," she said. "We'll… discuss starting over. And what it actually means."

Damon nodded at that, and she felt his grip loosen a bit as his muscles relaxed and he started to drift off into a sleep. Bonnie took in slow breaths as she attempted to do the same, though her mind was going at a million miles an hour right now.

_She just needed some sleep._

But what she saw behind her eyes the minute she closed them was something she couldn't even believe—_she was nowhere near close to fathoming as real_—as a short but distinct memory flashed within her mind and it made her nearly catch her breath.

Her body shot up in bed the minute she witnessed it and Damon was awoken out of his sleep, as he mindlessly felt for her leg and stroked it softly. Bonnie stared into the dark with wide eyes as every single hair on her body stood on end.

"Bad dream already?" he asked tiredly, without opening his eyes. "It's been five minutes, Bon."

"I remember," she said in a choked voice, as his eyes slowly fluttered open and she looked back down at him with already bloodshot eyes.

"What?" he sat up and turned on the night table light; he watched her in confusion as Bonnie breathed heavily. "What do you remember?"

She turned to face him with a fresh onset of tears in her eyes, before wiping them away quickly. Her body was shaking.

"Bonnie, talk to me," he said as he looked into her frightened eyes. "What do you remember?" he repeated.

Bonnie exhaled a deep breath as she looked down at the comforter before glancing at his face again; this time with a hint of substance behind her eyes as she studied him. Her goosebumps rose.

"You," she said lightly, as Damon's eyes expanded and Bonnie shook her head in disbelief at it all. "I remember _you._"

A/N: Woop woop, another update from me! I was feeling a bit inspired today (plus I had a day off) so I wrote you all a nice long one. Nothing much to say other than I am interested in your thoughts about EVERYTHANG so get to reviewing? Love you all and until next time! ;)


	9. The Ghost of You

**The Ghost of You**

"_Bonnie," _he eased, as he slid his hand over hers, and she continued to stare straight ahead at the wall in front of her. "Talk to me—_please._"

She tried to speak but no words came out, as she mentally retained the image of she and Damon that flashed through her head just moments before, as quickly as a thief in the night.

She tried to breathe, but it felt like there was _no air, _as each inhale did nothing to fill her lungs but panicked her instead.

"Do you still see it?" he asked, as his hand tightened over hers. "_Whatever _you remember?"

Bonnie swallowed hard before shaking her head "no," and Damon's eyes filled with disappointment, as she placed her head back against the pillow—staring up at the ceiling.

"No," she said gently—painfully—as she shut her eyes. "It's gone; it's all gone, again."

Damon didn't say anything as shut the light off again, and lay down beside her; this time, staring up at the ceiling too.

Neither one of them said a thing, though they were both still wide-awake from scare.

Damon felt Bonnie's fingers tighten around his before she rolled over onto her side—gazing at him quietly, as he continued to lose himself in his thoughts.

"We were in Italy," she said, in a voice barely above a whisper, and Damon immediately turned to face her as a knot formed in his throat. "We were on our honeymoon."

Damon watched the pain that washed over her eyes as she tried so desperately hard to bring the memory back but ultimately was left with nothing but the traces of what _had been._

He scooped her head into his arms, and Bonnie involuntarily smoothed her hand over his bare chest; her fingers tapping softly with each breath that he took, before his mouth nestled against her hair.

She shut her eyes.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly, as his palm cupped her head and he felt a tear drop onto his skin. "I am _so sorry_."

Damon now felt the tears against his own eyes as he continued to look up—never even bothering to wipe them away as they slid to either sides of his pillow.

Bonnie caressed his face as if she knew it; because she did.

_She knew there was only so strong that Damon Salvatore could be._

"For what? You don't have anything to apologize for, Bonnie—"

"I'm sorry for… making you think that allowing you to forget was even an option, because it's not; I don't want to start over, Damon—not at all. I just… I want to _feel _what I just felt—"

"And how do we do that Bonnie? Huh? How do we just make it all come back when it's _gone?_" he asked, trying to mask the shakiness in his tone with bitterness. "Why obsess about the past or what's already been—"

"Because I _loved you, _then," she said honestly, as she met his eyes. "I _felt _what _our love _was and now I know that I need to get that back; _I_ _want everything back._"

Damon stared at her silently as Bonnie shook, before he planted his hand on her arm in an effort to ease the tremors.

Bonnie instantly leaned in and planted a soft kiss to his lips—_one that took his breath away_—before slowly departing from the lock and searching his eyes.

She needed him—she _wanted _him.

"I want to see Doctor Garrett tomorrow," she said, as he stroked her hair. "I think… we should tell her about this; see what she thinks."

Damon nodded at that before he pulled Bonnie into his arms again; feeling her shallow breathing against him once more.

It would be just his fate that he'd convinced himself he would be okay—_just fine—_with going back to the start and this would happen; Bonnie would _remember _something.

His was Mother Nature's way of playing a cruel trick on him; as it teased at all he had owned, right before it had been taken away. And he wasn't sure if he wanted this—but he knew he wanted _her._

And that was enough to make him give it a shot. She meant everything.

"I'll try to set up an appointment in the morning," he promised. "I'll see what they can do. In the meantime, Bonnie… I think you should get some rest."

Bonnie held him tighter, as her head secured against his skin and Damon sighed as he shut his eyes—praying for the best in their situation, though he had become so accustomed to expecting the worst.

He felt Bonnie inhale a deep breath as her grip tightened over him, and her body relaxed almost immediately as the moments went on; it would only be a matter of time before she fell asleep.

_And quite possibly a lifetime before he did, ever again._

Damon swallowed hard as he watched his thoughts dance beyond his eyes, before Bonnie's voice broke into his head again; and it wasn't a part of a dream.

He felt her hands trail at his waist and her eyes staring at him while he held her; he couldn't help but feel chills—even in the dark.

"Bonnie—"

"_Don't you wanna know what I remember?_" she asked when he found her eyes. _"Don't you wanna hear about Italy?"_

XXXXX

"_I can't do this," she muttered, as her round eyes looked up from the tiled ground and she shook her head. "I—It isn't _right—_and I haven't been getting any sleep. I've been just thinking; thinking about how _awful _this makes me. About the type of person that I've become since even agreeing to it…" she trailed off as she began to fidget with her fingers. "And I want to be honest—I want to tell the truth."_

_There was a thick silence between the two, as she felt the pair of eyes before her shooting straight daggers in her direction as she tried to breathe._

_But she couldn't._

_She felt like she was drowning—underwater, almost—as each shallow breath she tried to inhale did absolutely nothing but sustain the heaviness; the one that oxygen couldn't quell or rectify. _

_And she knew he was angry; as she watched his hands curl into tight fists, and his skin warm with the heat of a raging fire the longer he stared at her. It wasn't like she expected her confession to go any other way, but she prayed that it would._

_She prayed that he'd understand this was the _lowest of the low, _and if they went on, they risked losing everything—especially all that they were fighting for._

_She watched on, as she tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear and he remained stoic. She wanted to avoid his eyes—and him—but she found that she continued, the minute they enraptured her—instantly hypnotized her, as they had been doing for quite some time now._

_She cleared her throat and shook away the enchantment immediately; forcing herself to stand tall, as her arms folded over her chest._

_Enough was enough—and she getting out of this, whether he liked it or not. She promised herself she would persevere._

"_You promised," he said, as his hands continued to curl at his sides and he blinked slowly. "You made a promise to_ me_ that you wouldn't back out."_

"_I changed my mind," she said strongly, though she felt meek on the inside. "I don't wanna do this—I don't wanna hurt Bonnie."_

_Stefan gazed into Elena's eyes before offering her a callous smile and taking a step in. _

"_You're not _hurting _Bonnie, Elena, by getting her out of a marriage she wants nothing to do with… You're _helping _her—you can be the one to _save _her," he soothed, before Elena offered an incredulous laugh._

"_Why do you even _need _me, Stefan?" she asked, as she stared deeply into his shining green eyes and pressed her lips. "Aren't you all teamed up with Rebekah now? Why do I even have to be a part of this _outrageous _plan?"_

"_Because do you _really _think Damon would go for her?" Stefan asked, as he laughed. "Rebekah Mikaelson; all the beauty of the money in the world—but it doesn't mean a damn thing to anyone because she's a fucking _joke. _Damon fucks girls like Rebekah but he doesn't _marry _them—he falls for girls like_ you… _Why do you think I even asked for her help in the first place? I didn't want 'small-town and wholesome' Elena Gilbert to get her hands dirty in this mess. You should be thanking me."_

"_For _what?" _she almost screamed, with fury-filled eyes. "For using me to get to Bonnie? You don't give damn what I feel for Damon—this is all about _you! _Should I thank you as well for _pretending _to date me, so that no one would get suspicious as to why we've been spending so much time together? Fuck you, Stefan."_

_Stefan licked his teeth at that as he stepped in closer and shrugged a shoulder with a cocky grin._

"_The sex wasn't pretend, Elena; it was all _real, _and what you _wanted, _if I remember so clearly… If you want more, I'd be happy to oblige."_

"_Stay away from me," she said firmly, as he stood a few feet away. "And Bonnie," she added with a shake of her head. "Having sex with you was the second _biggest _mistake I've ever made in my entire life; agreeing with your plan was the first."_

"_Ouch, Elena," Stefan feigned disappointment, as his hand pressed over his heart. "I really couldn't tell by the screams that I was _that bad," _he winked and she scoffed._

"_Do you even hear yourself?" she asked with disgust, as her russet eyes enlarged and he sent her an unapologetic smile. "You're a _pig—_ and there is _nothing _stopping me from telling her and Damon everything that you're trying to do. As a matter of fact—Bonnie and Caroline are in the backyard right now," she started to head towards the door. "I could just—"_

_Elena's speech was stopped when Stefan was finally before her, and her body was locked against the counter so tightly, she was sure she was going to have a bruise along her lower back tomorrow. Elena breathed tightly as Stefan's nose nearly touched hers. His fingers sifted through her loose chestnut locks and Elena shook with aversion at just the feeling of his skin touching her ear._

_She gulped when he looked into her eyes._

_All she could see now was the shell of the trusting friend she once knew; all she could envision was a _monster.

"_It would _really _be a shame if you told anyone about this," he said in a slight whisper, as he continued to twirl her hair between his fingers. "Besides the fact that Bonnie and Caroline would _never _trust you again, you'd also miss out on your shot with Damon; the guy that you kind of fell for."_

"_I don't care," she said bravely and between her teeth. "I don't deserve them; I would lose _everything _if it meant I'd be done with_ you._"_

_Stefan licked his lips and another bout of silence passed between the two; it felt like the air was getting thinner._

_He cocked his head as he finally dropped her hair._

"_Not _everything," _he said before he captured her wrist and Elena winced with pain the second his grip tightened around it. "Even you aren't stupid enough to want to lose _everything._"_

_Elena's groans remained low, though the firmer his hold became around her skin, the more she had to resist the urge to cry out. Stefan's eyes fixed on hers, and she held her tears back when they narrowed._

"_I have ways of getting what I want, Elena—and I don't like it when people threaten that," he said as her lip trembled. "Did Bonnie ever tell you about… the way that she _helped me, _in college?"_

_Elena nodded silently as she recalled the story. His grip continued to hold her skin and she sighed before she spoke._

"_She… she said that you had a drinking problem," Elena recalled. "And one day while you were on your way back to your dorms with your girlfriend at the time—"she stopped as she bit her nervousness back and breathed deeply. "—She blacked out from alcohol poisoning and you had to take her to the hospital, so you called Bonnie, because you couldn't drive… But by the time you two got her help, it was too late; you girlfriend died... It was an accident."_

_Stefan blinked at that as Elena looked into his eyes—her terror and sadness apparent as she stared back. He looked down to the ground as he dug deeply into his memory and recalled the day Bonnie came to help him and hopelessly dragged Allison's unconscious body into her car. He remembered it clearly as she took him into her arms at the hospital when they announced the news and she hugged him strongly, with tears in her eyes, though he never hugged her back._

_When Stefan looked back up and closed the final inches of space between him and Elena; he trailed his other hand over her cheek in an attempt to wipe away her tears. Her fear had already dried her eyes on its own._

"_But that's not true, is it?" Elena asked, with a course voice as she shook her head in disbelief. "It wasn't an accident—you _wanted _her to die… Didn't you?"_

_Quiet rushed on between the two as the only sound in the room was the pounding of her heart beneath her chest. Stefan remained still as a statue for a moment—deep in thought, it seemed—as Elena tried to read his eyes, but realized they were harder than a jigsaw puzzle to decipher. _

_She almost felt paranoid for even _considering _the idea, but quickly vanquished her doubts when Stefan's lips were painted with a smirk before he let out a hollow laugh; her eyes widened at the sudden outburst and she attempted to run before he pulled her back roughly and held her in place. He held her arm even tighter this time and Elena let out a short cry before she bit her lip._

"_You killed her," Elena breathed, though her own shock was beginning to overwhelm her. "You killed Allison."_

"_It's possible; about a 50/50 chance," he said cryptically, as he glared into her eyes. "…Do you consider yourself a lucky person, Elena?"_

_Elena used all of her strength to push Stefan off of her, and she swiped a coffee mug out of the cabinet quickly—instantly throwing it to ground; she prayed the noise it made was loud enough to stir Caroline and Bonnie's attention._

_Stefan let out a low growl as he started forward but he immediately stopped when they both heard the back door open and the sound of Caroline's voice calling for her, as she and Bonnie's steps prodded into the house._

"_Elena, are you home?"_

_Elena took in a sigh of relief as she stared at her aggressor, and he retreated to the counter top away from her—where he flicked on the coffee pot to start a roast._

"_Yeah, I just—I dropped a mug," __the girl called back from the kitchen as she eyed Stefan hotly. _"_Don't worry about it—"_

_Her voice stopped when Bonnie and Caroline both appeared in the kitchen to see Elena with her arms folded tightly over her chest and Stefan a few feet across from her; as the two stared at each other silently._

_Bonnie and Caroline exchanged a glance at the awkward and quiet moment, before Stefan painted on a smile and looked their way._

_"We were… gonna make coffee," he said. "And maybe grade some papers… You know, the usual."_

_Elena wanted to gauge his eyes out for being such a fucking liar. She nonchalantly rubbed her wrist before facing the two as well._

_"We… didn't see your car out front, Caroline; just Bonnie's. We figured you two were out, otherwise, we would have said hello."_

_The rest of the conversation was a blur; as Caroline babbled on about Elijah before disappearing and Bonnie tried to make small talk, though she couldn't focus on anything other than Stefan's eyes darting at her back._

_The feeling consumed her._

_She eventually snapped back into it when the two girls said something about leaving, and she eagerly volunteered to drive them to get lunch or _anything _that would render her out of Stefan's grasps and sight._

_As she walked out to the car, she shook with discord before getting behind the wheel and turning on the engine. She would have felt nervous about leaving Caroline and Bonnie behind with him, except for the fact that she knew Stefan wouldn't be so quick to formulate a repeat of his behavior; especially not yet._

_She was now his target._

_As she watched Caroline approaching from her rearview mirror, she steadied her breaths as her mind raced; trying to think of the best possible solution to everything._

_She couldn't go to the police, because she had no proof that Stefan killed Allison and he hadn't been convicted of it either—though she knew it in her heart that he should have been._

_She couldn't tell Damon, Bonnie, or even Caroline about this—because she was positive none of them would believe her and that was exactly what Stefan wanted; he wanted her to look _crazy.

_Elena continued to rack her brain as Caroline climbed into the car, and she gripped her steering wheel as the blonde eyed her scrupulously before saying a word._

"_You okay?" she heard and Elena offered a short laugh before nodding and tugging at her lip._

"_Yeah—I'm absolutely _fine,_" she said convincingly, as Caroline strapped on her seatbelt. "Just starving, you know—once I eat I'll be okay."_

_And though she said the words, she knew she didn't believe them; she never could._

_Things would never be okay, again. Elena Gilbert would never be fine._

When Elena walked into the 24-hour gym, she was met with two attendants at the desk but no other patrons, as she found her way to a treadmill and placed her water and a towel in the cup holders at the sides.

She guessed she was the only person in Mystic Falls who was _willingly _awake at 4 o'clock in the morning and thank god for that; with her latest case of insomnia, who the hell knew when she'd be able to get back to sleep.

All she knew was that she needed to preoccupy herself, so she chose here. Working out would be her medicine.

Elena's feet thumped against the track as she started her run; the TV above her showing some random infomercials, and her eyes glancing at it every so often, even though she had no interest in it.

She didn't care about anything right now, other than stopping Stefan.

Elena breathed deeply as she began to run faster—_harder—_as if she were training herself for the next time she'd see him; for the next time he'd smirk in her face and he put his hands on her again.

_Only imagining that next time, Bonnie and Caroline wouldn't be there to save her from the pain._

Elena's throat felt like she swallowed a handful of rocks at the thought, but she pushed through. Sweat beads collecting at her forehead, and her exhales becoming longer, the quicker that she ran. Even if she couldn't beat him, she would have to be strong to run from him.

_But she ultimately wanted to be strong enough to fight him; she wanted to _hurt _him._

Elena gasped when she felt a hand lightly touch her shoulder and she immediately missed a step on the treadmill; pulling the emergency stop plug before she could be thrown off, though she instantly lost her balance when it halted.

She prepared herself for the impact of the ground behind her, but she was caught into a pair of strong arms and she sighed with relief as they hoisted her back up and onto her own two feet.

Elena struggled to catch her breath from the run before turned around to see his pale blue eyes staring back at her— his honey blonde hair shining beneath the fluorescent lights of the local gym as he sent her a bit of a cautious smile.

He raised both hands apologetically as she stared at him all the same.

"_Woops," _Klaus said as he followed Elena's eyes. "I didn't mean scare the shit out of you."

"It's… fine, no big deal," Elena forced, as he swiped her towel and passed it to her; observing as she wiped her drenched face quickly, whilst avoiding his eyes. "What are you doing here so early, Nik?"

Klaus sent a short nod towards the weights.

"It's horrid trying to get a spot at the weight bench once all of the guys using steroids show up," he said bluntly, as she grabbed a paper towel and disinfectant to wipe down her machine. "I prefer to just avoid them altogether by coming at unfavorably-odd hours of the day."

Elena snorted at that as she tossed her trash and placed her towel over her shoulders.

"You drive an M6 _coupe_, and you expect me to believe you can't afford your _own _weight bench?" she said as Klaus folded his arms and squinted his eyes.

"Never said I couldn't; I just don't want to buy one."

"Why not? Afraid everyone will call you a _juicehead? _This isn't the _Jersey Shore," _she teased.

"I'm quite aware of that; however, I have a husky who isn't quite properly trained and gets off on being a little bit reckless; if he _sees _leather, the bench is goner, for sure."

Elena let out a short laugh at that before shaking her head and meeting his eyes.

"I had a husky growing up," she said, as they walked towards the weight bench and Klaus listened on. "Two, actually; Minnie and Dallas—because I couldn't decide whether I was a Vikings fan or a Cowboys fan when I was a little girl," she admitted.

Klaus scoffed at that as he placed the weight discs to each side of the bar and finally sat down.

"So you couldn't decide between _shit _and _shit _is what you're saying?"

Elena slapped his arm as he lay back, and situated himself accordingly with the bar above him. She stepped around to "spot" him; or at least she thought that's what she was doing—she saw it on T.V, once.

"I take offense to that," she said, as she watched Klaus lift and he breathed in response.

"And I'm offended by the fact that you subjected those dogs to such _torture; _there are laws against animal cruelty, Miss Gilbert."

Elena rolled her eyes playfully, as her palms hovered over the metal as it moved.

"Would you… be so offended, then, if I offered to train your puppy?" she asked, and she watched his brow rise when their eyes met. "I think it's tragic that you have to drive five minutes from your house to workout with the _common folk, _so maybe if I teach your dog to stop gnawing at your things, you can get your own bench. You won't be here to scare me off of my treadmill anymore, you know?"

Klaus laughed shortly, but he was met with such seriousness in Elena's eyes that let he immediately knew that she was for real.

_She actually wanted to train his dog._

"What's the catch?" he asked, as he rested for a moment and stared up at her. "You know you can't have my car, right?"

"Don't worry, my Ford Escape runs just fine," she said before she bit her lip. "But there…_is _something you can do for me, in return. It probably sounds _stupid—_"

"Trust me; you haven't quite heard stupid, until you've been around Damon after he's hit a bong," Klaus said and Elena smiled at that as he did one final push before she helped him guide the weight bar back into the holders, and he sat up curiously. "Name your price."

"I want you to… train me, physically" she said, as Klaus's brows scrunched immediately. "I mean, I'm good at running; I have a lot of endurance, but not a lot of _strength… _And a little birdie _sort of _told me you used to be a self-defense instructor while you were putting yourself through Boston University—"

"Damon," he said, immediately sniffing out the rat. "The bastard also told everyone I was a bartender in a gay club, but let's not talk about it, eh?"

Elena shook her head with a laugh as he cleared her throat and continued on.

"You want me to train you in self-defense?... Any reason why?"

Elena thought back to the back and blue on her lower back and tried her best not to glance down at her wrist that she already had to mask with foundation before coming out. Klaus' eyes barreled onto her seriously before she finally shrugged and forced a smile.

"_The Hunger Games; _Katniss Everdeen was… inspiring."

Klaus' forehead scrunched at that before he offered a genuine smile.

"Okay—that's…._honest, _I suppose," he said as Elena continued to nod. "You train Charlie, I train you to be a tribute_._"

Elena sighed in relief as she extended her hand to Klaus' and he relented by shaking it in agreement.

They had a deal.

"So, when do we start?" she asked after he cleaned his machine and wiped his hand across his forehead. "I'm dying to—"

Elena's words were cut off when he pulled her in closely towards him and her back landed against him so roughly, it almost knocked the wind out of her. Klaus pinned her at the hips to his waist and she swallowed hard as the image of Stefan's face flashed in her mind.

"Show me what you'd do first," he said simply, and Elena nodded quickly, as she attempted to swing back, but he easily stopped her fist before it made contact with his face.

"You're better off with a pinch," he said clearly, as he guided her hand and Elena listened on. "Under the arm, between the elbow, or on the thigh; you can literally pull the muscle away from the bone in those areas if your adrenaline is pumping hard enough," he said before he turned her to face him. "Besides that, your elbow is your best friend—the strongest point in your body. _Utilize it._"

Elena shook her head in understanding before he let her go and she rubbed her wrist.

"I'll keep that in mind," she said. "Thanks."

Klaus didn't say anything in return, before grabbing his things and walking her out into the parking lot; there were still no hints of the sun on the horizon, and she was fine with that. She was sure her makeup rubbed off anyway and she looked like a hot mess.

_Not that she was trying to impress Klaus, anyway._

"Did I hurt you?" he asked tentatively as they stopped at her Ford and Elena shook her head quickly as she opened the car. "Most attackers won't really give fair warning as to when they're going to strike… You need to be prepared at all times."

"I know, and I'm… happy you started things off the hard way," she reassured as she met his eyes. "I can start training Charlie as early as tonight, if you want. It's regents week and I'm all done proctoring my exams. I'll be finished with grading this afternoon, too."

Klaus nodded at that, as she adjusted her ponytail behind her head.

"That would be great. The sooner he stops chewing my shit, the quicker I can't frighten you during your runs," he said as Elena smiled gently and got into her car and lowered the window. "Just give me a call before you stop by; I'll have him all ready for you."

"Sounds like a plan, she said, before starting the engine and tugging at her lip softly.

She avoided his eyes as much as possible, but ultimately figured it was damn near _impossible _with somebody like him, who had this ability to see _everything._

He always had been skilled that way.

"I'll see you later, Nik," she said softly, and he didn't say a thing as he backed up and watched her pull out of her spot and the parking lot, in no time at all.

Klaus' eyes chased Elena's headlights until they disappeared, before he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed a quick message to none other than Damon Salvatore, himself.

"_I know you're asleep, but get back to me whenever you can… I think something is wrong with Elena."_

XXXXX

Bonnie paced the waiting room of the doctor's office incessantly; as she continued to look down at her watch and let out deep sighs each time a moment passed. She had only been waiting for all of ten minutes, but it felt like _forever, _as the minutes inched on and the sound of the receptionist's nails clicking against the keyboard filled her ears.

Bonnie looked at her watched again.

"Do you wanna sit?" Damon asked from the couch and she shook her head with a quick "no," as she never met his eyes.

Damon sighed at that before leaning back and pretending to get back to the _Us Weekly _magazine that was in his hands, though if he were honest he didn't give a shit about Justin Bieber or whatever shitbrain controversy he was involved in this week.

It felt like his brain was melting just reading this garbage.

When he flipped the page and saw Kim Kardashian posing with Kanye West on the next one, he finally closed it.

_That was enough pop culture for today._

And lucky for him, the receptionist, who went by the name of _Jenna, _was rising out of her seat with a smile, before she walked into the waiting area that housed just Damon and Bonnie, with a clipboard in hand.

"You're here to see Dr. Garrett, right?" she asked and Bonnie nodded as she bit her nails; helplessly putting them down at her sides again immediately.

"Is she available? I know this is short notice."

"She's _not, _actually," Jenna revealed, as Bonnie blinked. "She had an emergency and needed to leave the office as soon as possible about 15 minutes ago. I tried to give your husband, Damon, a call—"Jenna gestured and Damon nodded.

"I am now seeing the lovely voicemail you left me," he forced a smile; also noting Klaus' text about Elena and mentally reminding himself to get back to it later before he put his phone away. "Thank you."

"Is there anyone else we can see?" Bonnie asked eagerly, as she looked around the office and saw no one. "We're the only ones here and we _really _need to talk to someone."

Before Jenna could respond, the door to the office opened, and Bonnie and Damon turned around to see a familiar man with brown hair walking in; briefcase in one hand and his morning coffee in the other.

"That'd be me," Elijah said as she glanced from Bonnie to Damon back to Bonnie. "Leigh is a friend of mine and she had an undisclosed emergency that will keep her out of here for at least a week or so. I happen to be on vacation from the hospital, however, I've been appointed to cover… I can see you now, if you'd like."

Bonnie scoffed at that, as she immediately remembered the fight with Caroline about Elijah and waved her hand dismissively.

"Absolutely not. I'll wait a week," she said before turning to Damon and meeting his eyes. "Can we go? I don't wanna be here anymore."

Damon's eyes narrowed at the quick dismissal by Bonnie concerning Elijah and he scratched his hair. He looked at his watch that read 8:30 AM and he sighed. He'd been awake for the past seven hours and he'd be damned if he was just going to walk out of here after all that had happened last night.

He needed answers.

"Bonnie, let's stay," he nodded, as he met her eyes that were filled with disagreement. "We know Elijah; he knows your case—"

"Not as well as he thinks," Bonnie snapped back. "He doesn't know _me _at all—"

"You had a memory about him, didn't you?" he asked as Bonnie slowly turned around to face him and Damon's stomach spiked as the doctor looked on. "You… remembered something, and now you're not sure what it means—if it'll _all _come back or if that was it."

She didn't want to tell him that he was right but she was sure her eyes did, when they dipped to the ground before meeting his again.

Elijah placed his coffee to his lips before he gestured towards the office with it knowingly; she was officially stuck.

"I think you should stay," he said as he bounced between their eyes and offered a dim smile. "I've been meaning to have a follow-up chat with you and Damon anyway. Remember?"

Bonnie sighed in annoyance at that as she remembered her promise to Elijah at the event that she would do a follow-up and she nodded.

If talking to him once would clear the air and get him off of her back, then so be it. She had nothing to lose, anyway.

Damon and Bonnie followed Elijah into the office, and they both took a seat as he locked the door behind them and made his way over to the desk.

He scribbled a few things down as a strong silence coursed through the room before he finally looked up into their eyes. He smiled again.

"You two don't have to sit so quiet while I'm prepping, you know. You can… converse."

"No," Bonnie said sharply, with her arms over her chest. "We'll wait for you."

Elijah pursed his lips at that before he looked at Damon, who shrugged and raised both hands.

_He also mouthed the word "sorry."_

Elijah cleared his throat as he placed his book down and looked up at Bonnie—who looked more irritated than anything—before finally speaking again.

"How are you feeling? Both of you, since the accident."

Bonnie breathed deeply at that before nodding assuredly and tightening her arms.

"I feel good—great, even. My body has recovered and I'm just taking everything else day by day," she said.

Elijah nodded at that before he turned to Damon.

"And you?"

Damon snorted aloud, and he felt Bonnie's eyes cast on him; _how he was feeling _was a loaded question.

"Tense," he answered honestly, before leaning into his seat. "As you can see, _Doc, _we came here for a reason… Bonnie—"he started and stopped as his eyes met hers and the girl gave him the non-verbal go ahead to continue. "Something came back; a thought or a memory and—we don't understand why."

Elijah folded his hands on the desk as he deciphered that.

"It is possible—_not always the case, but possible—_for victims of psychogenic amnesia to be able to recall their memories. I… recall having a talk with you, Damon, about that."

Damon licked is teeth as his last talk with Elijah ran through his mind and his words rang in ever-so-clearly.

_"…Bonnie's memories, Damon, may _never _come back—she might not _ever _remember who you are and what your relationship meant to her. But… there is a chance that they can—they can if her psyche feels safe enough to let down the barricades it has built, to find a way to let you back in."_

_Damon snapped back out of his thoughts and looked back up at Elijah, as he fidgeted with his hands._

_"You said… if she felt __safe, __things might start to… come back," he said._

_"Precisely," Elijah said, as he sipped his coffee and turned towards Bonnie._

_Her eyes were fixated on Damon for a long moment before she finally acknowledged Elijah's stare and let out a silent breath._

_Well, that may have explained everything._

"Did you feel… _safe _with Damon last night, Bonnie?"

She shook her head with agreement slowly, as Damon watched on; feeling the first real wave of relief in his stomach that he had felt in _months._ He made Bonnie feel _safe, _after he had been the one to so recklessly endanger her heart. It felt like a small weight lifted off of his shoulders as he watched her gathering her thoughts and Bonnie biting her thumb as she prepared to say them.

"We were… in his car last night—the older one; a Chevy that he told me that I used to love," she paraphrased as Elijah listened. "I remember just… feeling so at _ease _when I fell asleep in his arms. Like I was _meant _to be there—almost like I always _had been… _And it felt like—just for a second—everything was okay. That it didn't matter that I lost all my memories, or he had them all… We felt like _equals, _for the first time since this all started and…" she stopped as she bit her lip and looked at Damon squarely—his blue eyes illuminated by her words. "It happened; no more than an hour later, when we were in bed and Damon was talking about letting it all go and starting over fresh... I just—I _remembered him, _for a split second. And it was… the most beautiful thing I've ever felt in my entire life."

Damon grasped her hand at that and Bonnie looked up to evade her tears that already quickly landed on the table.

Elijah handed her a napkin and she laughed nervously as she shook her head and dried her eyes.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I'm emotional," she said. "But it just—I've never known what it actually _felt like _to lose something so important to me and just feel a quick second of _relief _when I found it," Bonnie added as she shut her eyes. "It was… so _short. _But it was _real—_I know it was."

Elijah watched on as Damon stroked Bonnie's hand silently, and whispered a silent _"it's okay," _when she met his eyes. Bonnie sniffled as he wiped her cheek.

"What did you remember, Bonnie? Was it…a full memory, just a flash…?" Elijah asked and Bonnie sighed.

"Yeah—it was Damon and I—on the deck of this _gorgeous _villa, just watching the sunset… I was lying in his arms, smiling—I remember—before he asked me what was the _one _thing I needed to do before the end of our honeymoon in Italy," she said, as she recalled the thought and felt his hand tighten around hers. "And I told him it was what we were already doing—watching the sunset; I couldn't have asked for anything more and… that was when he turned to me and asked if there was _one more thing _he could tell me, right before we left. I agreed—ready for some outlandish thing he was gonna say, because that was his signature move and still is," she smiled as she fingered her necklace and met Elijah's eyes. "But… it wasn't crazy or outlandish at all. He said '_The only thing I regret about you, Bonnie, is not meeting you sooner in my life. My mom would have loved you just as much as I do.'"_

Damon looked down at that, as he remembered those exact words and that particular moment, when he had been the most honest with Bonnie that he had ever been in his entire life.

The one thing he always wanted as a kid—_deep down_—was not to be rich, get married, or even have any children of his own; hell, he didn't even want or need half of the toys or playthings Giuseppe spoiled him with when he was younger—it was never his aspiration anyhow.

His dream for as long as he could remember since the day his mother was diagnosed with cancer was to meet someone so _breathtaking—on the inside and out—_and have the chance to introduce her to his mom before it was too late.

And he knew it was unrealistic; he was just a kid when his mother passed on, and there was no way he'd ever meet the love of his life before he could even do his own laundry, but it was always a quiet thought of his that still lingered, even until this day.

He just wanted to make his mother proud; being with Bonnie would have done all of that and more.

"Do you remember what you said after that?" Damon asked suddenly, as he turned to Bonnie; her olive eyes were filled with tears. "I remember, still, until this day."

Bonnie stared at him hopefully, as she waited for him to work up the courage to speak; he hadn't had much left, last night. Damon took in a deep breath as he held onto her other hand now, too, and smiled while he looked into her eyes.

"_I'll meet your Mom in Heaven, one day—I'll send her your regards from Hell," Bonnie winked, as Damon smiled though he was shaking his head. "But I think you're lying about the other part…" she said as she turned to face him; she took his cheek into her hand and stroked her thumb along his jawline. _

"_She would love you," Damon promised. "I know it—you're smart, beautiful, a little feisty—you're _you."

_Bonnie grinned at that as the sunset gleamed in his eyes before she shook her head to dispel his logic._

"_But there isn't anyone on this planet who could ever love me as much as you do… There isn't anyone who will ever make me feel as _safe _as you do… And it means a lot more than you know, Damon; it means _everything _when the love of your life is the one person who feels like home. It feels like… you saved me."_

Bonnie let out a short sound at that, for it left her speechless; she didn't know what to say, but her memory of him, and his of her had said it all—_their relationship was about much more than just having fun or getting physical—despite the fact that's what had helped them connect._

She and Damon were built on something more—something true—and it was anchored within the fact that she saw him as the person whose love was unconditional—_the love that would never leave, even if she did, one day—_and Damon knew her as the woman of his dreams, who soon became a reality—_she was the one he'd never gotten to share with the only other woman he ever truly loved; his mother._

How could she have almost agreed to letting him let all of these memories go?

Bonnie looked up at Elijah, who had abandoned his papers and was deciding to just _listen; _not as a doctor, but as a _friend._

She appreciated that, much more than he knew.

"You seem happy, Bonnie—but conflicted," he read, as he watched the trouble mounting in her eyes. "What do you feel?"

"_Everything," _she wanted to say; she felt _everything _in that one glimpse of she and Damon's past and it pained her that the memory was nothing more than a tease of what she had been so lucky to have, once upon a time.

Now that she knew what she was missing, she was _petrified _of never getting it back.

"What if that was it?" Bonnie asked, as she met the doctor's eyes. "What if… that was the _only thing _I'll ever remember about Damon and I's past for the rest of my life?... Or worse, what if I just… get flooded with every single bad memory, and not the good ones? What if that moment of _knowing _what I felt is something I'll never be able to capture again? How do I—how does _anyone _deal with that?"

Elijah's jaw ticked as he contemplated the best answer, though he knew there _was _none. He knew it was very possible that this could be the first and only time that Bonnie had a mental picture of her past with Damon. He knew it was potential that this memory could open the floodgates to everything that had gone _wrong _in their relationship—and specifically to who he believed had been an issue—now that she had experienced something so significant.

A lot of things could happen, from here on out; but what truly mattered was the way that Bonnie and Damon handled them, more than anything else. Their hopes and their faith in each other was what would carry them through the fire.

"You have to open yourself up, Bonnie," Elijah said honestly as she peered into his eyes. "—to the possibility that there may be more good or there could _much more bad. _Or, to even the fact, that there might be nothing else _at all… _You have to trust yourself, Bonnie—and Damon—to be able to handle whatever gets thrown your way at this point, if you believe that you shall truly be together."

Bonnie swallowed at that as her eyes drifted to the window beyond him and then back towards his face.

"The present, Bonnie, is what you _tangibly _have and it just may be enough to help you heal your past. But the first step is being honest with not only yourself, but with each other, as well because there is a certain _safety _in honesty. It's often the one thing you know will never change about the person that you're with… And I'm not saying it'll bring all that you knew back, however, if your _safety _with Damon has been your anchor… I believe you have something to work with there."

Bonnie bit her lip at that and she felt Damon shift in his seat; as if there was something to say, but his thoughts were stopping him. She decided it was her turn to be honest first, then.

"I know what you said to Caroline last night," Bonnie said, as she looked up at Elijah and he didn't flinch. "About Stefan and I—and you thinking there was something more."

Elijah nodded in acknowledgement as he folded his hands, and Damon's eyes widened in surprise as he glanced between the two.

_What?_

"Was there ever more?" Elijah asked bluntly and Bonnie shook her head confidently as she stared into his eyes. "Have you and Stefan ever dated—had feelings for one another?"

"No," she said. "I've never had or even wanted to be in a relationship with Stefan; he'd my best friend and I just don't see him that way," she said honestly.

Damon felt his skin beginning to boil at the fact that this idea was even on the _table, _as he tapped his foot and let out a deep sigh. He hadn't spoken to Stefan since the entire debacle with Rebekah and this was honestly the last thing he needed to hear about his brother before he saw him again.

_There was no way in hell that Stefan had feelings for his wife. _

"Fine. I'm glad we've discussed it then," Elijah said simply before turning towards Damon and folding his hands. "How about you? Anything you want to get off of your chest?"

Damon let out an incredulous laugh before he met Elijah's eyes and shook his head; his blood running hot just by looking at him, all of a sudden.

"You're joking, right?" Damon asked brashly. "You accuse my wife of wanting my brother and you just expect me to move on with this conversation? What proof do you even think that you have to question that there was ever something between them?"

"Stefan's behavior last night, is all," Elijah said simply as Damon raised a brow. "Sometimes, we don't know the people closest to us as well as we may think."

"Like Klaus didn't know you?" Damon asked immediately, as Elijah's jaw ticked. "You screwed his fiancé when he was out of town, for Christ Sakes… Should I trust you when it comes to my brother because you still have a guilty conscious?"

"Damon," Bonnie warned as she looked into his eyes. "Don't do this—not now."

"I'm just looking out for my best friend," he said, as he stared into Elijah's eyes. "The one he stabbed in the back."

"_Damon—"Bonnie_ started, and Elijah cut her off before she could finish the threat.

"Bonnie, it's been a pleasure, but I would like to have a moment in private with Mr. Salvatore... _Please._ You can book your next appointment at the desk with Miss Sommers."

The woman sighed before reluctantly rising to her feet and heading towards the doorway—she figured she'd keep an open ear just in case they strangled each other while she was gone. As soon as the door shut, Elijah's eyes darted to Damon, who was staring at him angrily and stubbornly.

Elijah raised both hands and furrowed his brows as he stared at him just as intensely.

"Are you done, Damon? Have you finished insulting me, so that I _might _be able to continue helping you?"

Damon scoffed at that and the memory of his brother and then his best friend coursed through his mind. He decided he wasn't done.

_Not a chance._

"You _were _helping me Elijah—you started off _just fine, _until you tried to accuse my brother and my _wife _of sleeping together. Do you know how _ridiculous _that sounds? Forget the fact that that's just _not _Bonnie, I _know_ my brother. And—"

"Instead of defending you so blindly just as you are doing for _him _right now, he would _instead_ tell me about the almost-affair that you had with my sister, Rebekah, who I now know—via Facebook—will be working for the same company _you _work for?" he asked as Damon swallowed hard and Elijah sat up straighter. "Let me ask, Damon, does Bonnie know that yet?"

"She will," Damon promised. "I was going to tell her today."

"Was that going to be before or after you were done rifling on about things that had nothing to do with _your _treatment?" he asked, as Damon shut his mouth. "I understand you don't see me as a _friend; _and I understand—you don't have to. I hurt Niklaus; so _you _don't trust me… But for _fucks sake—_open your eyes a bit and realize that you have out your brother on an unspeakable pedestal where he can absolutely do _no wrong, _when he may be _much more _calculating than you're willing to accept."

Damon didn't say anything to that as Elijah began to scribble on a sheet and he folded his arms over his chest.

"What basis do you have for telling me not to trust my own _brother? _You don't know anything about him or his life… Bonnie was there for him when he went through a rough time; when the love of his life _died. _You do realize there is no way you're right about this?"

"Maybe not," Elijah said, as he glanced up every so often from his sheet and met Damon's eyes. "But after two minutes of speaking to him and just the hours of observing him, I will tell you right now that I don't think the memories Bonnie is missing are entirely related to _you._"

Damon's brows furrowed as Elijah handed him the sheet and he peered down at it in question.

"What the hell is this?"

"A medical advisory request, of sorts. I want you to take a drug test."

Damon's eyes enlarged even further as he stared at Elijah and shook his head.

"You have to be fucking kidding me. I'm not taking a drug test—I don't do drugs. Pot doesn't count."

"Fine then, Damon; I am _ordering you _to take a drug test, and if you deny me—which you have every right to, of course— I will have your job issue you a subpoena in which you will be _legally bound _to comply. Better?"

Damon's eyes narrowed at that as he gazed at an elusive Elijah and pursed his lips.

"I'm not looking for the joint you smoked or the pot brownie you ate—I could care less about that… but your mind will; and once the test is no longer a _private _matter between you and I, I can't help you. The company will be mandated to tell them what they found."

Damon rolled his eyes at that and folded his arms.

"This doesn't make any sense. If you're not looking for that, what _are _you looking for?"

"It will make sense when your test results come back. See you when they come in, Mr. Salvatore... In the meantime—I suggest you tell your wife who your new co-worker is before she shows up at the office with lunch and it winds up on _you._"

Damon huffed before rising from his seat and making his way out of the office, with rage-filled in his eyes.

_Un-fucking-believable._

As soon as he exited he saw Bonnie; who was quietly masking her anger until they got back outside to the car, where she immediately pounced, like a lion to its prey.

"What the hell is the matter with you?" she asked as he started the car and began to drive away. "Why would you ever see it appropriate to bring up Elijah and Klaus' drama during _our visit?_"

"Oh, I'm sorry—my mistake for thinking it was _relevant,_" Damon responded as Bonnie watched him fiercely. "I must have also forgotten that you were _so nice _to him the minute he walked up; I couldn't help but take after you."

Bonnie scoffed at that as he continued to drive and she shook her head furiously.

"That was different, _Damon; _Caroline asked me if I ever cheated on you with _Stefan _last night after Elijah put all sorts of ideas and theories in her head for _no reason—_"

"And _I'm mad, _because he reiterated those ideas _again, _despite the fact that you and I both know it would never happen," he said as he continued to drive. "I'm pissed off that with every silver lining we seem to have, Bonnie, things are always right back to square one—just _one step _away from falling apart," he added as her brows scrunched.

"Now we're falling apart because of one talk What happened to wanting to work _with _me, Damon? Was all of that just a lie to get me into bed?"

"No," he said, as he continued to look forward—despite the fact that her orbs were burning holes through him.

"So, _why _do you think we'll fall apart? We're making _progress, _clearly—"

"There was something I left out about last night, at dinner."

Bonnie remained silent as she continued to stare at him; his eyes never parting from the road before them, while his hand tightened around the wheel.

He finally stopped at a red light and took in a bout of air before he even attempted to open his mouth to speak. Bonnie's mind was spiraling with anticipation.

"Richard hired Rebekah as a full-time employee," he said, as Bonnie's brows slowly rose. "And despite my best urgings _not _to have me involved with any of it, there's a 99% chance I'll be the one training her… I don't have _any _choice."

The silence in the car was deafening, as Bonnie tried to process the information; still remaining completely quiet even when he finally faced her way—his eyes urging her to say _anything._

_He'd even pay her to yell at him if she would._

"I'm sorry," he apologized as it was now her turn to look straight forward and evade his eyes. "But you have to know that I didn't choose this. And if I could… leave such a shitty situation, I would. I would absolutely do that for you and the sake of our marriage."

Bonnie ticked her jaw at that before looking at him. Her thoughts were going a mile a minute.

"So _why can't you_? Why can't you just _leave _this miserable job that makes you _so _unhappy and has caused so much drama between us?"

Damon licked his lips at that but didn't respond as they finally pulled into their driveway. She remained beside him in the car as he avoided her gaze before she took his hand into hers and squeezed it tightly.

"I know how unhappy you are; I know how unhappy _I am _with the fact that your job is one of the biggest things preventing us from moving on with our lives… Forget my memories Damon; with or without them, we don't mean a thing if there's something else standing in-between us. Right?"

Damon took in a hollow breath as he felt her hand gripping his. This was not the way he wanted her to find out who he truly was.

Not like this.

_Not after all that he had done to prove himself, last night._

"My job isn't between us," he lied, as she rolled her eyes. "I just—I can't leave. I can't move on from what I know—"

"Of course you can," she urged, as she looked into his eyes and nodded with belief. "You are _amazing _at what you do, Damon; you know that you are. If Rich would be foolish enough to let you go over some _intern—"_

"He's… not gonna let me go," Damon said as he met her eyes and Bonnie bit her lip. "And I'm not going to leave… I _can't _leave," he said painfully slowly.

Bonnie's heart raced at the slow-developing fear in his eyes that successfully was striking the match to her own. She gripped his hand even tighter when she felt how cold it had become before dropping it completely and taking his face into her hands.

Damon gently met her eyes.

"I don't understand," she said as her thumbs grazed his cheeks; he remained unresponsive. "Damon—"

"Bonnie, I'm not who you think I am—"

His voice was cut-off as his phone began to ring and the sound filled the car, as Richard Lockwood's named appeared on the Bluetooth screen before them and Damon sighed.

_Every fucking time. He was just about ready to smash it in._

His hand moved towards the ignore button, but Bonnie's—surprisingly—pressed accept, instead. Damon eyed her with confusion as she cleared her throat and met his eyes.

She'd just about had enough of this.

"Hi Rich," Bonnie said assuredly, as she stared into Damon's blue eyes. "Can I help you?"

"_Bonnie—pleasure to hear from you. Is Damon around? We need to have a talk."_

"He's here," Bonnie said, as her stare intensified against his. "He can hear you. He actually wanted to speak to you, too. Great timing."

"_Well, isn't that fantastic. Damon?" _Rich confirmed and Damon pulled in a deep breath—never separating his eyes from Bonnie's.

"I'm here," he said.

"_What did you want to discuss?"_

Damon looked Bonnie and she stared at him expectantly—_hopefully—_as she waited for him to do the hardest but _right _thing; and that was to quit. Richard Lockwood had him by the balls long enough, and it was time that he stood his ground let him know that he wasn't his puppet anymore—that his life—and his marriage—mattered to him more than the money and he would be damned if he made the same mistakes that he did before, all over again.

He'd be a fool to even subject himself to it.

But what he _should _have said and what he would _actually _say weren't the same thing; they never would be. Not when it came to someone who literally held his life in the palm of their hands.

Damon turned away from Bonnie to evade her disappointment, for he knew it was coming.

"It can wait, Sir. What's going on?"

And just by the look on Bonnie's face, he could tell that she was _crushed._

"_I was calling to confirm your training—with Rebekah," Rich said as Damon let out a deep breath. "I know that you aren't exactly _enthusiastic _about it, at all—"_

"Not in the least, Sir," Damon replied.

"_But what if I told you that I was willing to not only extend your stay in the states by another six months so that you could continue your counseling with Bonnie, _but _that I also have planned for you to spend the week of work in none other than your hometown of New York?" _he asked, as Damon's eyes widened. _"There's an event I would like for you to attend—with your trainee—and I figured why not give you the week to work your magic on all of your New York mogul friends? You fly out on Thursday."_

Damon remained silent at that as his head ached and his hands tightened.

Rich was sending him to New York with _Rebekah? _For a _week? _Was it even worth accepting six more months of home-stay if Bonnie _wouldn't _be here when he returned?

He needed to turn it down. This was too much.

"I'm sorry, Rich," he started as he turned towards Bonnie. "I don't think that I—"

"—Can fly out on Thursday. But how about Friday?" Bonnie took over and Damon's eyes widened. "It's Bonnie again, obviously—and I'm sorry for interrupting but Damon's been _promising _we'd go to New York and this seems like the perfect opportunity to do so, even if he has to work," she lied.

Damon eyed her madly and Bonnie didn't flinch at all as she awaited Rich's response. The man finally cleared her throat.

"_That sounds… great, Bonnie. I'll alter the flight arrangements for the jet and set up the car service… It'll be a trip for three… for you, Damon, and… Rebekah."_

Bonnie didn't smile at that but she put on the sweetest voice that she could as she still glared into Damon's eyes.

"I appreciate it, Rich. I _really _do. Keep in touch with the details, okay?"

Bonnie ended the call before shooting Damon one last glance and he threw up his hands in disbelief as his eyes questioned her right back.

"What the _fuck?"_

"If you won't quit your job, I'm going to make Rebekah quit hers," Bonnie said, before getting out of the car and slamming the door shut behind her.

He sat there flabbergasted for a moment before he finally gathered himself and followed her inside with no words at all.

_It looked like he was going back to good ol' New York, New York._

**A/N: WOW, I have to say you guys are PHENOMENAL after all of the amazing reviews and theories and everything after last chapter. Please, keep it up! I hope that you're all super happy that I've been inspired lately but I have you guys to thank for that—you deff keep me going, so thank you **** What did you think about Bonnie and Damon, Stefan's past & Elena's predicament/preposition for Klaus, Elijah's therapy session, and SURPRISE, New York? Were you all happy that the flashback was actually GOOD? Do you think it had any sort of influence in Bonnie's final words? Only time will tell. As always, I love the feedback and you guys are great, so please don't stop being awesome! Read, review, and until next time. Love you all!**


	10. Everybody is Someone Else's Secret

**Everybody is Someone Else's Secret**

"_A _mandated _drug test, huh? That's shocking—I didn't think my cousin, Elijah, had it in him… Then again, he does have the persistence—and annoyance—of a small dog, so I really shouldn't be surprised at all."_

Damon scratched his hair as he looked up at the T.V on the wall at the Mystic Falls Diagnostics Center, that was appropriately playing a marathon of _Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, _and he ticked his jaw as he folded his arms.

"Well technically, it wasn't _mandated, _but he threatened to make it be…So I decided to give in to his very _persuasive _'suggestion' before he got Rich involved and made it a huge deal… The last thing I need is to attend any meetings because I smoke a little bit to ease the stress," Damon replied.

Klaus scoffed at that.

"What does he think he'll find, anyway?"

"Beats me… If marijuana _isn't _what he's looking for then I am, without a doubt, going to be his biggest disappointment yet…. It's not like he's the first person I let down today," he said, as he recalled the drive home with Bonnie in the car and her blatant frustration with the fact that he just couldn't put his foot down with Richard and quit the company, once and for all.

She hadn't done much speaking to him since the moment she took over his call and invited herself on his business trip, but she had, however, been packing her bags at home in preparation for it.

Bonnie was serious when she said that she planned on making Rebekah's experience Hell.

Before Klaus could offer a comment on that, Damon gladly changed the subject.

"Hey, what was with that text you sent me this morning?" he asked as Klaus looked up from his cell phone. "About Elena?"

The man sighed before sliding his smart phone in his pocket and shrugging a shoulder.

"I… kind of ran into her, at the gym this morning, during my usual 4 A.M workout," he explained as Damon watched on. "She just seemed a bit more _flustered _than usual—something was off."

"You can probably blame that on my brother," Damon said with a roll of his eyes. "Bonnie told me that they broke up; something about Elena being more into him than he was into _her._"

Klaus's mouth pursed at that before he leaned back into his chair; recalling Elena's jumpiness and short words as they talked and he shook his head.

"No, it was more than that," he said, as Damon's brow rose and Klaus stroked the hair of his five o'clock shadow on his chin. "She… asked me if she could train Charlie to behave in exchange for self-defense lessons," Klaus revealed. "She wants to learn how to fight."

Damon's forehead scrunched at that as he digested his words and shook his head.

"Elena, _Warrior Princess?_... Can't say that I've heard of anything _weirder _in my entire life. But then again, Bonnie _is _trained in the art of jiu jitsu, so maybe it's not _that _weird that the ladies wanna learn how to throw down, just in case… Are you afraid she'll be able to kick your ass?" Damon teased as Klaus snorted.

"She won't," he stated as Damon grinned all the while. "I'm just concerned with whose ass she's really trying to go after. It's a bit of an unusual request coming from her, isn't it?"

"So why don't you just ask her? I mean, what's the worst that could happen? You afraid she'll lie?"

"Yeah, possibly," Klaus confessed as he met his eyes. "She's at my place, right now—"

"_Elena's alone at your house?_" Damon asked with widened eyes as Klaus bit his lip and his friend's smirk grew. "That was _fast._ I guess she's gonna get over Stefan in one way or another, after all."

"Fuck you," Klaus said, as Damon laughed and never wiped away his beam. "She's with the dog—it is innocent. And I'm supposed to begin training her tonight, but I want to get to the bottom of this—I want to find out what's caused this sudden interest of hers to want to fight… I'm not saying it's wrong, but it's a bit odd, for her… The only time I've even heard her yell was at your wedding, when she caught the bouquet and tossed it to someone else. Elena wouldn't hurt a fly."

Damon nodded at that.

It was true; Elena was quite possibly the Mother Theresa of Mystic Falls.

Teacher, Head of the Mystic Falls Beautification Society, frequent homeless shelter volunteer, and now, Klaus' personal dog trainer. He couldn't imagine the girl laying a hand on anyone, and in a town like Mystic Falls where violent crime was about as common as a tsunami, there just wasn't anyone to even protect yourself against to make the training necessary.

Maybe Klaus was right; maybe they'd definitely have to look into this.

"You want my advice?" Damon asked, as the woman at the desk finally called his name for his test and he rose to his feet to follow her into the room for his screening. "Maybe take her out of her element—just for the night—and try to get her to open up to you. Elena's a good girl, Klaus—but we all know the best of the best are usually the one with the most secrets… Take her somewhere where she won't be able to hide who she is… or _what _she's afraid of."

"So in other words, I'm going to… get Elena _drunk _and hope that she no longer has a filter?" Klaus asked, remembering the fact that Elena's alcohol tolerance was that of an 85 pound girl. "That's a little bit manipulative, don't you think?"

"You're not manipulating her you're just… using her weaknesses against her so that you can _help her._"

"You make it sound so much nobler," Klaus said dryly as Damon nodded his head at that as he prepared to walk off but Klaus' voice stopped him again.

When their eyes met this time, Klaus offered a small smile before saying a word.

"It's a little late, but I… appreciate you defending my honor with Elijah," he said as Damon bit his lip an remembered his words at the therapy session. "I know Bonnie's mad at you for acting like an ass but I—Thank you."

Damon looked down at the floor before looking back into the genuine gratefulness in Klaus' eyes.

He didn't regret standing up for him one bit.

"Don't mention it," he said before he started to walk off again. "Especially not to Bonnie."

Klaus smiled as Damon left before immediately taking out his cell phone again and dialing a call.

Perhaps there was a way he _could _help Damon, he thought; it was only right, considering that he was helping himself, too.

After all, best friends went down together, right? And he was prepared to sink all the way down with Damon's ship if he couldn't keep it afloat.

"_Hello, this is Niklaus Mikaelson—from the Investment Department… I was hoping I could have a word with Mr. Richard Lockwood."_

XXXXX

"What do you think of this one?" Bonnie asked, as she walked out of the fitting room doors and Stefan looked up from the couch to see the girl fashioned in a simple blue dress, with a beautiful lace trim at the end.

He watched on as Bonnie spun around graciously before looking at herself in the mirror and adjusting the fabric.

Considering the fact that she was still mad at Caroline, Elena was dog-sitting, apparently, and she couldn't be bothered with Damon's shit at the moment, that meant the next best person to go shopping with her was Stefan. She needed a few new things for the trip to New York and she figured that because he was a native, he'd be able to help a little bit when it came to her dressing appropriately for the city scene.

Not only did she need a dress for the nights and dinners out, but she and Damon would also apparently be meeting up with Giuseppe and his new wife Pearl—as well as their daughter Anna Belle—during their stay. And through careful prying before Damon took off with Klaus, she had found out that Giuseppe and company still had _no _idea that she had lost her memory of her and Damon's marriage.

Meaning, she was either going to have to still pretend nothing happened, for Damon's sake— because it was safe to say he wouldn't take news well—_or _Bonnie would have to tell him to suck it up as they used this opportunity to come clean about everything that had gone on.

The second option seemed just so much more _exhausting._

Bonnie sighed as she tugged at the dress from the boutique, and Stefan rose to his feet with a glass of the complimentary champagne to relieve her with, as she stared at her reflection in the mirror.

Bonnie breathed a small thank you when she took it into her hand and had a sip.

She didn't even _like _champagne, but in situations like these, she needed it. She was _stressed._

"I think it's nice," Stefan finally said as he glanced at her reflection as well—standing behind her inspecting the design, while she looked into his eyes. "But if you're trying to one-up Rebekah, I suggest you go a little sexier."

Bonnie whipped around to meet his eyes and she was silent for a moment as she took a sip and swallowed a bout of champagne down. Stefan didn't budge.

"Who says I'm trying to one-up her?" she asked defensively, while she recalled the other-worldly blonde who hopped into Damon's arms at the book-signing; almost reliving the way she envied the girl's perfect curves and features. "It's been forever since I've been to NY, as far as I know, and I just wanna look nice for this."

"Right," Stefan said sarcastically, as he saw through her transparency and watched her spin back towards the mirror self-consciously. "And it has absolutely _nothing _to do with trying to keep my brother's eyes on _you, _right?"

Bonnie swallowed at that but didn't say a word, as she smoothed the hem of the dress and continued to glance at herself; Stefan's eyes burnt into her skin.

A _lot _of it had to do with wanting to show off for Damon—_needing _to make it clear to Rebekah, too, that there was a reason he never left what he had for what he could have gotten. There was a reason he wanted _her._

Because after today—and that dream about she and Damon's past—Bonnie was feeling overwhelmingly motivated.

She wanted to prove that this could work out, even if they had all of the odds stacked against them. She _needed _to show everyone that she just wasn't going to be some complacent, sad girl who almost lost her marriage and her life and didn't do anything about it to save it.

She wanted to be strong; she wanted to fight. She wanted to prove why she was still Damon's first choice and she couldn't wait to make it clear that he was still hers.

Shopping may have been the least—and most shallow—of her worries, but at this point, Bonnie didn't care.

She'd spent enough time being the background noise in Damon's life and because of that, she almost lost him to somebody else. Maybe it was time she proved why she was—and would always be—the one he'd choose.

Price tag on the outfit, be _damned._

She snapped out of her thoughts and looked back in the mirror to see Stefan holding something in his hand. Bonnie turned around to see the red fabric on the hanger and his slight nod towards it as she looked on. Her eyes expanded.

"You can never go wrong with a little red dress," he said as she took it into her hand and met his gaze. "Try it on—I think it's your size."

Bonnie glanced down at the garment and scoffed.

With a strapless sweetheart line that would show off her neck and shoulders, a fitted bodice that would enhance her chest, and the crisscross rear straps in the back that were made for exposure she knew this one would make her the center of attention, anywhere that they went.

It was sexier than anything she had tried on here and she almost laughed at the fact that Stefan was the one to pick it out. He always knew how to surprise her. She took the dress into her hand and disappeared into the fitting as he crossed his arms with a smile, while he waited for her to come out.

Bonnie spoke from behind the barrier.

"Do you know how embarrassing it is that you're better at this than I am?" she asked, as he let out a laugh. "Seriously—when did you become such an expert?"

Stefan watched on as Bonnie was out, no more than thirty seconds later—dressed fondly in the tight ensemble that hugged her frame and rose on her thigh as she walked out of the fitting room with hands on her hips.

His throat itched and mind fogged with desire as he watched her walk over to the mirror where she stared appreciatively at herself, before turning to face Stefan again for confirmation.

He smiled purely, though the things running through his head were _anything _but.

"You look…" he trailed off, as he watched a gleam enter Bonnie's eyes as his own trailed over her body before meeting her face again. "Damon will like it; I'm sure about that."

Bonnie smiled as she looked down at herself and then back to Stefan.

She was extremely lucky to have somebody like him in her life; especially on a day like today.

She wasn't sure what she'd do without him.

"So I don't look like a skank?" she asked bluntly, before Stefan laughed and licked his teeth. "C'mon Stefan, be honest," Bonnie urged.

"Fine," Stefan said, as he took a step in, and Bonnie stood there silently as he appeared before her—just inches away.

She laughed softly when he took her hand into his and spun her around to face the mirror; her frame only stopping when his hands landed on her shoulders and smoothed down to her bare arms. Bonnie slowly felt her laughter fade as she glanced forward at she and Stefan's reflections; as she _felt _his warm fingers glide all the way down to her hips and her throat suddenly go dry when she searched for his eyes that were already on hers.

When his hands stopped, Bonnie was still standing stoic against his hold. Stefan cleared his throat before he lowered his voice to her ear.

"I don't think I've seen anyone more breathtaking," he replied, as his tone traveled through her ears and coincidentally sent chills down her spine. "Classy and _sexy—_consider my brother the luckiest man on this _planet _the night that he gets to take you back to your hotel and you're wearing _that…_I mean it, Bonnie."

Bonnie inhaled a deep breath at that, before she instantly broke from whatever daze had intoxicated her for a moment before she turned back to face him. Stefan eyed her intently and Bonnie forced a smile before she cleared her throat and toyed with her ear.

_Was she sweating?_

Stefan remained cool as Bonnie tucked a strand behind her ear and held his eyes. Maybe this was the best time to talk about what had been plaguing her since the session with Elijah, considering the fact that she had been totally thrown off by the feeling in her stomach just moments ago.

_Yeah; this was a great time to talk._

"Oh my god, I didn't tell you about the _ridiculousness _at Damon and I's session earlier with Elijah," she said suddenly, changing the subject, as Stefan looked on intriguingly and she offered a bizarre smile. "He has this _crazy _idea that you and I got together before… He's even got _Caroline _into this idea; she confronted me about it last night. It's totally crazy, right?"

"Yeah—definitely," Stefan laughed as Bonnie smiled—a sense of relief falling behind her eyes for some reason. "Where'd he get that idea?"

"No clue," she breathed before spinning around towards the mirror and adjusting her curls. "But I told him it'd never happen. I mean—even though I don't _remember _Damon, I know you, Stefan. And we're just… _friends,_" Bonnie stated as she met his eyes.

Stefan nodded at that before he placed a hand on her shoulder and gripped her skin; his gaze never dropping all the while.

"_Friends forever, Bon… I wouldn't have it any other way."_

Bonnie offered a gracious smile before the moment was interrupted by the sales representative who was now walking over, with a gentle smirk on her face, and her red hair tied into a simple bun.

"Mr. and Mrs. Salvatore—are you finding everything okay? Can I get you some more champagne?"

Bonnie's heart stopped at that—_Mr. and Mrs. Salvatore—_and she didn't know what to say for a second, as the woman continued to eye her strongly and her tongue immediately felt tied before she rushed to correct her.

"We aren't… Mr. and Mrs. Salvatore—"she stopped when she looked towards Stefan's eyes and offered a calm smile.

"Well, technically—we _are _Mr. and Mrs. Salvatore," he eased, before looking at the attendant and shaking his head. "But we're not married—Bonnie's my sister-in-law."

"Oh, I'm sorry; my deepest apologies," Lily replied, as she now eyed Stefan unashamedly and the man replied with a quaint smile. "I didn't mean to offend you—"

"No offense taken; she's beautiful," he winked, before placing a hand to Bonnie's back and igniting a flame beneath her skin. "But we do have a few things for you to ring up; including this dress and whatever else Bonnie has over there," he pointed to her 'yes' rack, before taking out his credit card. "My treat."

Lily smiled as Stefan handed her the card, but the minute she turned on her heel, Bonnie shoved him in the chest. His eyes widened accordingly.

"What the hell are you doing, Stefan? You're not paying for all of my stuff!"

"I think that I _am—_Lily has my card already," he replied as Bonnie scowled. "What's the big deal?"

"They're _my clothes, _for _my trip, _that should be paid for with _my money, _Stefan—"

"But they won't be; not this time," he said as she furrowed her brows. "I kinda talked you into getting that red dress, which is the most expensive of the bunch and I'd feel bad if you were the one to pay for it… Just consider it a gift from me to you to Damon… seeing as he's _still _mad at me about the Rebekah thing," he tugged at his lip.

Bonnie let out a sigh at that; as she read the unparalleled hurt beyond his eyes and shook her head.

Damn him for actually making a pinch of sense right now.

"Buying _me _clothes won't make him get over it, Stefan," she said. "It might actually piss him off even more."

"So then don't tell him they're from me," he answered as she ticked her jaw. "No reason to get into a fight, right? I just… I want you to have a good trip, Bonnie—you both deserve to, after everything you've been through. And I won't take no for an answer—"

"Thank you, Stefan," she said, as she took both of his hands into her own and she smiled softly. "You're a good brother; a good…_fairy dress father, _too," she added as he grinned. "And don't worry—it'll be our little secret. I swear."

Bonnie let go of his hands at that as she turned to walk back into the fitting room and Stefan slid his hands into his pocket as the curtain shut behind her; shielding her away from his desperate thoughts and chilled memories that he couldn't help but preserve in the back of his head.

His memories of _her; _the recollections that he would soon make a reality.

XXXXX

"You're good," Klaus said, as Elena followed him into the kitchen where he poured Charlie a bowl of food, and then flipped on the faucet to wash his hands. "I had my doubts, Miss Gilbert, but I must say—you've proved me wrong."

Elena grinned at that before she bumped Klaus out of the way to wash her hands as well, and his eyes never dropped from hers as the sound of the water ran.

It was only day one and Elena successfully had Charlie sitting, heeling, and rolling over like it was child's play. Klaus was shocked—and impressed—by the revelations, but _happy, _nevertheless, when he saw that there really _was _hope on the horizon for his wearisome pup.

And it was all thanks to her—it was all credit to _Elena._

"Of course I did—," Elena interrupted his thoughts as he followed her eyes. "Isn't that what we're all about, Klaus? One-upping each other?"

From giving their speeches at Bonnie and Damon's wedding, to throwing the better bachelor/bachelorette party: it had always been a competition, with him, from the moment they met here in Mystic Falls. Showing that she was better at training Charlie was not only a victory on her end, but a surefire blow to the ego on his. And with that blow, she was sure Klaus would channel it into upping the ante of her self-defense training; which was exactly what she wanted.

She wanted to become strong.

"I suppose," he finally replied when she turned off the faucet and he tossed her a dish cloth to dry her hands. "But you can't beat me at _everything, _darling—I won't allow it."

When the two walked back into the living room, Klaus set Elena up with a few stretching exercises to warm up, while he went off to change into something a bit more "fitness appropriate," before he began their training session.

When Klaus came back—dressed in a sleeveless tank and a pair of basketball shorts, Elena rose to her feet as they might eyes and both hands landed upon her hips. Klaus stretched his muscular arms overhead before he made his way over to the mini-bar in the living room.

Her eyebrow rose.

"You're training me with alcohol? Getting drunk is probably really ineffective, don't you think?"

"It is," he replied, as he met her eyes. "But talking isn't. Have a seat Elena."

Reluctantly, the brunette sat down on the ground and watched on as Klaus filled two glasses with an amber liquid before coming back and sitting down before her; fills of Scotch in hand.

"Predators sense intoxication and see it as a weakness; you'll have to learn to defend yourself when you're inebriated as well," Klaus said. "Drink up."

Elena sighed before taking the drink and raising it to her lips for a sip—she winced.

Scotch didn't exactly taste any better than it looked.

He stared at her silently for a moment before clapping his hands together and opening his mouth to speak.

"There are a lot of things I can teach you, Elena—about defending and protecting yourself; but sometimes, I find it easier to base this course off of what _you feel _you should learn… Do you have anything that…_motivates _your need for self-defense?"

Stefan's face flashed in the back of her mind, but her eyes didn't waver while looking at him; she couldn't give herself up that easily.

"Like I said, Nik—_The Hunger Games_ was really inspiring."

"What else? Is there _anything else _that _makes you _want to be stronger? Have you ever been in any sort of physical altercation in your life, Elena?" Klaus asked, as her mind continued to pound with the mixture of Stefan's face and the alcohol she was consuming. "Has your life ever been threatened?"

"No," she lied—as she shook her quickly. "I can't say that is has."

Klaus sensed a lie behind that but he didn't question it. Elena sipped her drink faster as his mind continued to race.

"Good," Klaus said simply, as he glanced into her eyes and read them carefully. "Because you'll be surprised to hear that most attacks begin emotionally and psychologically before they become physical. Your attacker is likely to get into your head and disrupt you on the _mental _plane before they violate you otherwise. And if it's someone that you _know—_you can likely read the warning signs."

Elena shuddered at that as she thought about Stefan and all of the smooth words, tactics, and touches that he used to get to her. A lot of what he had said to her—before even laying a finger on her—infiltrated her so deeply, before she could even realize it.

His words about her "duty;" about her _right _to finally get what she wanted for once in her life, when it came to Damon, got to her much deeper than they should have—considering the fact that what she _thought _she felt for her friend's husband was amateur and petty at best, when looking at his marriage through a clearer set of lenses.

Damon had never shown any interest in her, despite the fact that Stefan said she was his "type" and she pined away at him much more than she should have. She liked him because he represented all that she couldn't have—and _never had_—in her life; a guy that didn't want her.

Every man that Elena had ever cared for didn't feel the same way about her; and she was always so ready to dive in head first, when _he_ wasn't even prepared to dip his feet in the water.

She never got what she wanted and she was never happy and it made her bitter—because _Bonnie _always was always the one.

Bonnie's relationships growing up had all been with great, _quality _men, that only disappeared from the picture because _she_ was the one to run first. Her best friend just had so many things—and people—right in front of her face for the choosing; and Elena never felt what that was like, at all.

_So it especially burned when Bonnie—who was single and definitely _not _looking— met Damon; _a_ New York playboy, with the looks of a professional Calvin Klein model, and a personality so full of life, he could brighten any room just by opening his mouth._

Damon was a player—a guy who breezed through women faster than the speed of light—but somehow, he was prepared to pick up his entire life and move it here for _Bonnie—_a girl he barely even knew, yet was completely enamored by_._

_Another guy had fallen for Bonnie Bennett._

And Elena didn't think that she cared when she _heard _about Damon; he sounded like an asshole and definitely one of those guys that Bonnie would likely entertain for a month or two before telling him to beat it. But the moment she _met _him, she knew he was far more than that.

She _knew _Damon would be the one to walk Bonnie down the aisle just by witnessing the way that he _looked _at her.

His charm was unparalleled; his wit, unmatchable—and his eyes, _unbelievable. _And the closer Elena got to Damon, the more it felt like she was losing everything that _she wanted; _because he was the epitome of it—Damon was the carbon copy of her very own Prince Charming, and she was all set and ready to watch him marry _her best friend._

Elena was sidelined yet again, and it wasn't until Stefan came along that it felt like she could actually do something about it—because she was going to help Stefan tear Damon and Bonnie apart.

And for days—weeks, even—she didn't feel bad about that at all. She justified her knowledge of Stefan's actions and her own participation as well with the fact that Stefan was a good guy; one who had always had feelings for Bonnie, and it was only right that he pursued "the one who got away—" even if she belonged to somebody else. Her marriage with Damon was failing anyway, so what was the point in trying to hold onto it anymore when she could move on to someone else?

Elena believed Stefan could make Bonnie happy. She honestly believed that

And, naively enough, she believed that this would be her chance to finally have Damon; she would start out slow, and eventually work her way into his life, but she was convinced she would get there. She was convinced that with her and Stefan's interventions, everyone would live happily-ever-after; she _believed _they were just righting Nature's wrong and making things the way that they had always intended to be.

It wasn't until too late that she realized she was not only committing the biggest mistake of her life backstabbing Bonnie, but also that she "loved" Damon Salvatore; for all of the wrong reasons.

She _envied _Bonnie's marriage with Damon much more than she actually _loved him, _herself—and the day that she tried to back out of Stefan's plan was the day that she finally accepted it. She didn't _deserve _Damon or somebody like him, _just because _she yearned to have someone care about her the way he cared about his wife. _Bonnie _deserved Damon, because she loved him—and he loved her; it was as simple as that.

So what the hell had she done, sheepishly and selfishly agreeing to play a role in Stefan's game, when not only was Bonnie her best friend, but the extent of her being in _love _with Damon was nothing more than being in love with the _idea _of him?

Why hadn't she been able to separate her envy and her jealousy from actual _feelings _sooner? And why did she let Stefan make her believe they were one in the same?

Why was Elena Gilbert such a fucked up and hopeless cause?

"_Elena," _she heard, and she snapped out of her thoughts, to see Klaus still staring at her.

Her hand tightened around her glass and she took another sip as she looked into his eyes. If only he knew there was really _nothing _he could do to help someone as disgusting as her.

Maybe she deserved what Stefan did to her; she backed out on him, after all. Maybe she'd deserve what would happen to her next, and for time to come after that.

She was pathetic; pitiful, nauseating, and completely worthless. And she earned every single bit of cosmic karma that was coming her way. That was all she really believed in, any more.

"I can't drink anymore," she said with a shake of her head, before faking a smile and setting down the glass. "I know this is an exercise, but I just… can't."

Klaus' blue eyes struck her imaginatively and Elena tilted her head when she noticed a smirk form at his lips.

That _is _what they were still talking about right?

"I… was actually informing you that something work related came up this week and you won't need to train Charlie for the next few days. I won't be in town."

Elena frowned at that as she met his stare and shook her head.

"Don't worry, Nik. You don't have to be around. I can train him either way—"

"_Not if you're in New York… with me,"_ he said, as her eyes widened and he took a sip of his drink. "I know it's short notice—perhaps bad timing—"

"You want _me _to go to New York with _you?_" she asked incredulously, as Klaus licked his Scotch stained lips. "W-What for? I mean, it's a nice gesture and all but—"

"But nothing. I promised to train you and if I'm gone on business for the weekend, you're gonna fall behind. I'm just trying to be a good teacher."

Elena snorted at that when she met his eyes.

"I think it'd be okay to renege on your word _just this once—_"

"But we made a deal, Elena. And whether you like it or not, I want to stick to my word… You'd like that too, wouldn't you?"

"Yeah, but that's not the point—"

"So it's settled," Klaus interrupted, as her eyebrows shot sky high. "You're coming to New York. We fly out on Friday."

There was silence between the two as Klaus sipped his drink and she reformatted her body, so that she was sitting on her feet.

Klaus' smirk never faded.

"You're never gonna let this go, are you?" she asked as she stared into his blue eyes and he shook his head much to her dismay. "Unless I _go _with you."

"_Not a chance, Little Gilbert."_

XXXXX

"That was… a lot more civil than I expected… Instead of calling Rebekah a raging _whore, _you only called her a raging _bitch, _and I suppose something like that should be complimented, right?"

Bonnie rolled her eyes as she plopped down on the king size bed in she and Damon's gorgeous Grand Suite at _The Peninsula_, before she peeled off her strappy black heels and tossed them to the ground.

Damon locked the door behind them as he walked over—tentatively watching Bonnie as she hopped to her feet and made her way towards the mini bar almost immediately.

_Never mind the fact that it was just past lunch time_.

She poured a glass of wine before heading to the window to marvel at the view of The Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church and she sighed.

When she felt Damon standing beside her, she finally cleared her throat and shrugged her shoulder just as flippantly as he would have expected.

"I make it a habit to try not to call woman out of her name; she should be happy those were the first words to come to mind."

Damon placed a hand on Bonnie's shoulder and rubbed it accordingly as she glanced at the breathtaking view of the city as well. The flight and car ride here—sandwiched between the two—had been filled with as much tension as he imagined. Bonnie and Rebekah didn't really cease at the snide remarks they made towards each time the other opened her mouth. And he was pretty sure Bonnie would have punched the girl in the face had it not been for them arriving at the hotel _just in time _to put a halt on their nasty exchange that had _easily _lasted over the course of a few hours.

_Not that he would have minded; Rebekah had been rude and condescending from the moment she laid eyes on his wife—if she didn't have cosmetic reconstructive surgery coming in her near future, he would no doubt consider her the luckiest person he'd ever met. Period._

Bonnie hadn't been an angel at all, either—she "accidentally" spilled a martini on Rebekah less than ten minutes of being in New York and also "unintentionally" shoved her when making her way into the elevator as the three made it up to their floor.

It was the least regard Damon had ever seen Bonnie have for _anyone _before, and while he was thoroughly enthralled and even tickled by it, Damon felt guilty because he was letting Bonnie fight _his _battle; she was going to war when she shouldn't have even been suited up in any armor.

Bonnie was angry because of something _he did, _and taking it out on somebody else who had merely been an instrument to own his fuck-up; after all, his getting close to Rebekah was entirely his fault in the first place—despite how easy it would have been to assign the blame to the blonde for how tempting she was about it all.

He didn't _feel bad _for Rebekah at this point, but he'd be lying if he said he didn't pity her. Bonnie's wrath should have been directed towards _him—_he was the one who get them into this sticky-almost-adulterous-mess in the first place. Maybe he should take responsibility for that.

"You're not gonna let this ruin your time here, are you?" Damon asked gently, as his hand curved over her skin and Bonnie remained stoic. "Because it's been ages since we've been here together, Bonnie; and there's _so much _to do… Central Park is close by, there's shopping, your _favorite _Halal truck on 53rd and 6th—"

"_She _won't ruin my time, if that's what you're really asking," Bonnie said firmly, as she still looked out the window. "I've got a better head on my shoulders than that, Damon. Rebekah and Rich won't break me—not like they intend to break _you._"

Damon exhaled at that but didn't say a combative word because she was right—Bonnie had already bared her cards as the _Queen of Resistance, _while he was definitely still bordering a _Joker._

She was firmer, meaner—_stronger_; she was probably the strongest person that he knew, he concluded.

But then again, it much easier to have her type of strength when you _weren't _hiding the types of secrets _he _had. Damon had to be careful not to screw this up; despite his urge to just flat out rebel against Rich's monarchy and slay everything in sight. Damon had to keep himself safe, and most importantly, he had to look out for Bonnie too.

_He had to make sure to shelter her from it all._

"Look," he said into her ear, as her eyes remained on the church, "I know you're mad at me for just not saying _no _to Rich and quitting all of this_—"_

"Wow, you must be _psychic," _Bonnie said sarcastically, as she folded her arms. "Please—tell me more."

"I'm happy you're here," he said, as his palms slid onto her sides and his mouth curved at her shoulder. "I'm… happy that you…invited yourself on this trip, and I'm _ecstatic _that we have such a beautiful room with such a wonderful view… Because you deserve it, Bonnie; you deserve _everything. _And that's all I want to give you—I want to be able to provide for you _anything _that you desire."

Bonnie didn't say anything as she felt his touch graze along the back of her sheer peach dress, and his mouth land, as he planted soft kisses along her neck. She placed her drink on the window sill.

Yeah, she may have been in _New York, _in one of the most expensive hotel suites to boot, but that didn't make everything okay—and it didn't erase the fact that they still had ways to go before they would be.

Damon's job—and the people he worked with—were an issue for her, and likely one that she'd never really get over, to be honest. It was bad enough that he had the boss from the absolute pits of Hades, but now his "trainee" was some sort of hyena in dressed in _Dior, _who had no other interests than wedging herself in the middle of she and Damon's already challenging relationship.

How much more of this was a person supposed to put up with? Had she been a fool to even withstand this much, she wondered?

Bonnie rolled her eyes as she moved Damon's hands away from her skin and he watched on as she slinked her way back to their bed; folding both hands over her thighs. He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his pants in silence.

"What do you like about working for Rich?" she asked unexpectedly, as Damon's indigo eyes dimmed and his brows furrowed. "See—I know with my job at the publishing company, I _love _what I do. I wake up _happy _to go to work, because it's my passion, Damon. It's where I've always seen myself… And I can't imagine _not _being able to be creative and do art and have control over something I see as my _own,_" she explained, as Damon looked down before looking up again. "So, what is it about accounting? What makes you put up with all the _bullshit _everyone throws your way? Does it make you happy?"

Damon was silent for a second as he stared into Bonnie's questioning green eyes while he formulated a response within his head.

_Did accounting make him happy? _

"I don't mean to put you on the spot," she said breaking the stillness, as her feet dangled on the edge. "But I… am still getting to know things about you, Damon—and this is something that I need to know; something that you _should _know… Does your job make you happy?"

Damon inhaled as he took a step forward and sat down on the bed beside her. Bonnie looked over towards him, as he looked down at his hands—deep in thought.

He truly didn't have an answer for her—at least not an _honest _one anyway.

"I—I don't know," Damon replied, as he shrugged a shoulder lazily and finally looked back up. "It has its ups and downs—"

"Don't bullshit me," Bonnie interjected, as he met her fiery gaze and took in a deep breath to quell himself from the flames. "It's a yes or a no, Damon—"

"I've… loved it, some days, and others—I just wish I had never gotten involved."

"Damon, answer the question," Bonnie said lowly, though the pitch in her tone rose just a bit.

"…Because I've done things to people that I am _not _proud of. Things that I _hate_—"he continued, only to be cut off as she jumped to her feet and gripped his shoulders so tightly, he was sure the circulation beneath his skin stopped.

"Damon, answer the fucking question!" Bonnie yelled, as he shut his lips and she stared at him madly. "Are you happy or not—"

"No, I'm not happy!" he finally screamed back, and Bonnie's hands slowly trickled away from his skin as she stared into his now electric eyes. "You think that I'm _happy _with the fact that I've _helped _Rich lie and steal and cheat _honest, good people, _out of their life's savings with all of his illegal trading?" he asked as he rose to his feet as well. "You think that I'm _happy _that I've helped this man cover up _everything, _from tax evasion, to money laundering, to the goddamn _prostitution _ring _he runs _for all of his rich, fucked-up politician friends, who all have wives and kids at home—just like _he _does?" Damon asked as Bonnie's eyes widened considerably. "I'm a _criminal _Bonnie—a fucking _criminal _by association_—_and no; I'm _not _'happy' about who I am or what I've done, but what _can _I do? What can be done at this point? I'm in too deep."

Bonnie swallowed hard at all of the details barreling down on her quicker than hot water in a shower and she shook her head as she stared into his eyes.

"Call the cops, Damon. Confess—come clean—_anything—"_

"And risk going to jail? Risk losing _you _more than I already have?" he asked, as Bonnie pursed her lips. "Rich didn't exactly hold a gun to my head when he appointed me in charge of hiding all of his dirty laundry—I did it, before I even knew the full extent of what I was getting myself into… And by the time I did—it was way too late. And Rebekah? She knows—she knows _everything _and I am _absolutely screwed—"_

"No you're not, Damon," Bonnie said as she grabbed his hands and tightened her grip around them. "You just have to tell the truth; you just have to tell them that you made a mistake—"

"And what do you think happens next? Parole for my _great behavior? _What about after that? What about my reputation? What about the people who _definitely _come after me? People of _power—_"

"We'll worry about them when we get there," Bonnie said confidently as Damon rolled his eyes and she grabbed his face. "Listen to me," she said as he looked into her near glossy eyes and felt his heart crumble the moment he witnessed such sheer tenacity in her eyes. "I know that you've fucked up Damon—_a lot—_you've fucked up _a lot… _and I'm not surprised that I've tried to leave you, now, after getting to know the dirty details of your life! But I—I don't _want _to leave you, this time, Damon. I don't _want _to throw in the towel, even though I should—because I feel something for you and I _know _at this point that this it, for me—_you _are it. And I would rather have tough times with _you _than easy times with _anybody else._"

Damon took in a slow breath as he forced her hand away from his face and shook his head viciously. Bonnie swallowed hard at the lump in her throat.

"That is the _dumbest _thing I've ever heard. Probably the _craziest, _too! _I'm going to jail, Bonnie, if any of this gets out. _So not only am I an emotional cheater, but I a goddamn _felon _as well! Why the _hell _would you want to be with somebody like me when you could have your choice of _anyone? _Have you _met you, _Bonnie? Y-You're _beautiful, _and intelligent—and _good—_"

"And I'm none of that without _you,_" Bonnie said as she closed the gap between the two and Damon stared at her wildly as she examined his eyes. "Criminal or not, I'm… falling for you, Damon… Despite everything that I _know, _I can't hide what I feel. I'm… _falling in love with you._"

Damon felt his heart stop as well as his lungs, as he stared at Bonnie standing before him—fully convinced that this was just a joke and the most elaborate prank on _Punk'd _to date.

But he wasn't famous—and there was no Ashton Kutcher to break up the moment, as he felt his skin tingling and his mind racing while his body tried to digest her words.

_There was just him and Bonnie; just like it always should have been. And she was pouring out her heart and soul to someone who didn't even deserve to hold her hand, much less._

The woman who he loved—who had _forgotten him_—was falling in love with him. And somehow, it was the greatest and most tragic moment that he had ever experienced in his life. It felt like everything he ever wanted, but _nothing _that he believed he deserved.

_Bonnie _was nothing that he deserved.

"Don't say that," Damon replied lowly, as Bonnie's hand reached for his arm; her thumb forming slow circles as he watched the ground. "Don't do that—_don't _fall in love, Bonnie!"

"You think that I have a choice?" she asked starkly, as he met her eyes and stared at him angrily, this time—positively _enraged _by him and his self-loathing, he knew. "If it were my choice, Damon—I wouldn't choose to feel _any _of what I'm feeling at all. I would want to be _numb._"

"So why do you?" he challenged, with a hint of rage building in his voice. "Why me? Why _now_? Why not just _leave _now that you found your way out, huh? Why keep trying to build something with someone who's _broken—_"

"Because I want to help you Damon—and I can; I _can _help you!" Bonnie said, with firm olive eyes as he shut his own completely. "But I can only help _you _as much as you _want _to help yourself… Because I will do _whatever _it takes to get you through this, Damon, if you _want _to be a better person… But if you don't—just let me know. _Tell me _that I shouldn't be wasting my time on someone who doesn't _want _to try. Because I can leave, right now. I can leave you to Rebekah and New York and all of your fancy accounting dealings and parties if it's what you want… But I don't think that it is. I _hope _that it isn't."

Damon ticked his jaw as he stood there, motionless—feeling the coldness in Bonnie's hand regain all warmth, as it continued to stroke his arm and run all the way down his skin.

He looked into her big green pools, when her grip tightened at his wrist and he inhaled a sigh.

What had he done in this life, or the past one, to have a woman so good—so _strong? _How had he managed that? And why hadn't he been counting his lucky stars that when she said she was here for him, that she _truly _meant it?

Why was it taking him so long to accept what Nature had given him? Why wasn't he nurturing it, with open arms, rather fighting it and pushing it away?

Bonnie had faith in him—but Bonnie was also _real _with him; much realer than he had been with himself. Why was it so hard for him to understand that he didn't have to be _perfect _for her to fall in love with him? Why couldn't he grasp that Bonnie _knew _who he was, and accepted it as well—even if she didn't like it, sometimes?

When would Damon Salvatore finally realize that, memory or not, Bonnie married him for a _reason, _that had nothing to do with the size of his bank account, closet, or even his home? When would Damon Salvatore realize that she wanted _him, _and _him _alone—despite all of the mistakes that he'd made—just as long as he was willing to own up to them, himself, and the consequences of his actions?

_Right now. _

Damon Salvatore would realize everything, _right now._

Damon leaned in and planted a firm kiss to Bonnie's lips—so _fervent, _it would have knocked her over, had he not pulled her in by the waist and steadied her balance at the same exact time.

Bonnie's mouth wasn't taken by surprise—in fact, she almost _expected it,_ as her lips molded immediately to his kiss and her hands gripped at his face—taking in everything that he was and all that she _knew _Damon wanted to be.

She couldn't force Damon Salvatore to be a better man; and she didn't _want _to. But she knew that he _desired _to. He knew that he _had to. _Not only for himself, but for her too. He needed to be better for the _both _of them; he _wanted _to resolve his past so that he and Bonnie could have a happy and healthy future.

And it started with resolving _himself. _Damon needed to come to terms with _himself, _before he _genuinely _grow for the better.

Bonnie let out a soft moan when Damon slammed her atop the king size bed, and climbed over her—kissing her mouth, chin, neck, shoulders—anything his lips landed upon, that his hands hadn't been taking care of first.

"I love you," he whispered into her ear, as she felt him slide his hand along her thigh beneath her dress and Bonnie shut her eyes. "I _really _love you. And I want to try… I want _you."_

"I know," she said appropriately—feeling his fingers, as they slid her black underwear down her legs and tossed them to the ground, without any care at all. "I know you do, Damon."

Damon leaned forward and kissed her lips again—savoring the sweet taste of white wine that marred her tongue; _imagining _what it'd be like if his mouth was _elsewhere _on her body, as he dutifully began to raise her dress over skin until it was fully off and over her head.

That bra from _La Perla _was the only thing on her body separating them. He flicked a strap over her shoulder.

"You don't need that," he said softly against her skin as Bonnie scoffed—goose bumps rising all along her arms, all the while.

"Says _who_?"

"Says _your husband._"

"_Touché," _she conceded.

It was barely past 12 P.M and here they were in their hotel suite; seconds away from getting hot and heavy after an explosive argument, and Bonnie couldn't say that she imagined the start of their trip going any other way.

She may not have remembered Damon but she _knew _him completely, at this point; and she found ill-comfort in the way _they _did things. The fights, the arguments, and the angst was never in vain, because somehow, they always ended up right back where they _wanted _be, at the end of it all—and that was with _each other._

She trusted the words and logic that spewed in her head, but she also believed in what her _heart _felt about him; and what she _felt _was that he was _The One._

_The sarcastic, fucked-up, arrogant, and prideful "One" that she wanted. And whether she liked that or not, there was no escaping it._

There was no such thing as running away from fate and what was meant to be.

Bonnie gripped onto Damon's face—damn near pulled it away from her stomach—as she looked into his eyes and bit her lip.

_At least her "fate" was sexy as hell._

"No more secrets," she said strongly, as she narrowed her eyes. "I mean it—no secrets, no lies, no _half-truths_—"

"I got it, _Maury_; what, are you gonna give me a _lie detector_ _test_?"

"Don't tempt me," she pointed an index as Damon observed her stare. "I know that I seem…accepting of your secret, Damon; and I am, in a way, because I want to help you get through it… But don't mistake my understanding for weakness. And _don't _be dishonest—you can't be. Not if we're gonna get through this. Okay?"

Damon's eyes softened at that, before he nodded at the serious tone of her voice and issued an honest "I understand."

He sealed his words with a kiss to the lips, before proceeding to trail them all the down her mocha skin—stopping briefly at the naval to circle his tongue, as Bonnie's freshly painted nails gripped at his hair—and unashamedly—pushed him down even further.

_Whatever; she was a woman and she had needs._

Bonnie felt her toes instinctively curl as her eyes snapped shut when Damon's head buried between her thighs, and he expertly alternated between his tongue and his fingers to satisfy her.

She opened them dazedly to glance at the open window that emitted a stream of sunlight into the bedroom, before feeling her eyes dial back and her lids shut while Damon continued on.

_Maybe they needed to fight more often if this would be the outcome._

"Damon—" she started and stopped—realizing that she had nothing else to say that wasn't obviously stated by the breaths she was taking, or the groans coming from her lips.

He knew what he was doing, and he knew what that did to _her_; the morally upstanding Bonnie Bennett-Salvatore, who looked like a "good girl" on the outside, but clearly had an affliction that only he _could _cure, on the inside.

She didn't know for sure what made her want to divorce Damon but she knew one thing for sure: it _wasn't _the sex.

Bonnie let out a little _yelp _when she felt Damon move _beneath _her, as her weight shifted over his face and her hands had no choice but to hold head first at the headboard as he continued at a maddening pace.

_Yup; _definitely _not the sex, she concluded._

Damon gripped at her hips while the woman rode atop his mouth; her frame eagerly bouncing up and down as he sunk his fingers into her skin as much as humanely possible, even though he knew it'd likely bruise her.

Bonnie didn't seem to mind, as her head dipped back and she find solace in her grip on the mahogany board.

The only thing that mattered to him right now—_and her, obviously—_was finishing this. Damon was only concerned with ending what he started.

So it would only seem likely that there would be a loud knock at the door at that _exact _moment and Bonnie groaned to snub it, though Damon heard it loud and well.

_And that was when they decided to ignore it._

Bonnie's breath quickened, as did Damon's tongue, while she gripped tighter against the wood—feeling it knock against the wall unabashedly, while her moans filled the room.

And she was _loud—_but not loud enough to shield from the knocks on the door that were becoming more frequent, and much more incessant as they continued on, until finally he couldn't take it anymore and Bonnie slid out of his grasps.

"You have to be fucking kidding me," Damon muttered as Bonnie sighed and quickly grabbed the complimentary silk robe that lay on the other end of the bed.

She tied it on as he neared the door. He glanced at her before touching the knob.

"Don't move—I'm not done," he said plainly, and Bonnie rolled her eyes at the order, though definite shudders ran up and down her spine.

"Yes, _Sir,_" she winked sarcastically.

Damon yanked the door open as he wiped his mouth, and there stood none other than the _She Devil _herself, as she folded her arms and tapped her foot; gazing resolutely into his eyes.

He leaned against the door frame as he tilted his head.

"What the fuck do you want?"

"Nice to see you too, _Neighbor," _Rebekah said sardonically, as she gave him a look up and down and folded her arms across her chest. "Why do you smell like sex?"

"I'm not having it with _you, _so what does it matter?" Damon shot back as Rebekah went rigid. "How can I be of service to you, today?"

Rebekah ticked her jaw and stood proudly, though he was sure she felt little more than three feet tall.

"Richard called—he set up for us to have dinner tonight with a few of the _big whigs _from some software company that he's trying to get his paws on. I was told to inform you of the details—that is, if you won't be too busy acting out your own porno film for the rest of the day."

Damon's brows scrunched at that as he stared into her pale blue eyes and he crossed his arms this time.

"He said we hadthe night off. The event I'm taking you to isn't until tomorrow."

"He lied, what else is new? You should know all about that by now," Rebekah said scathingly as Damon licked his teeth. "Are you coming or not?"

"Depends—is Bonnie invited?" he asked and Rebekah snorted.

"What, so you could fondle her beneath the table all night, while _I _do all the work?"

"I don't consider you busting out of your push up bra 'work,' Rebekah—"

"Honestly, fuck off, Damon—"

"What's all the commotion about?" they heard, and they both turned around to see Bonnie as she widened the entrance by pushing open the door a bit more; still clad in her robe, but her hair now in a bun as she stared Rebekah down. "Anything I can help with?"

"This one doesn't require you to be lying on your back, so no thanks," Rebekah disparaged as smile spread to Bonnie's lips; only infuriating the blonde more. "It only concerns Damon."

Bonnie looked into her eyes and shook her head.

"Whatever you can say to my _husband, _you can say to me," Bonnie reassured, as her left hand landed on her hip and Rebekah's eyes widened when she caught glint of Bonnie's long missing wedding ring. "Do we have a problem?"

Damon's eyes expanded as he noticed the familiar rock sitting on Bonnie's finger as well, and he offered a short laugh when she looked into his eyes knowingly; when the hell had _that _happened?

He a million and one questions right now.

Rebekah bit her lip and huffed a bit as she looked back into Bonnie's eyes and offered her own smirk that lit her eyes even more than the shine in Bonnie's jewelry. She wasn't going down like that.

"If you _knew _him—_really knew _Damon, you wouldn't be wearing that ring so proudly."

"I think I know all that I need to," she said as she glanced at Damon and back at Rebekah. "There isn't anything you can tell me that I haven't heard already. And if you're smart, you'll keep your mouth shut… Unless you want to be an accessory to _crime._ Understood?"

Rebekah's naturally sun-kissed skin went pearly white as she stared into Bonnie's eyes before clearing her throat.

"I didn't do anything wrong. And you'll have a hell of a time trying to prove it."

"Just like you'll have a _hell _of a time _denying _it," Bonnie answered, as the girl's cheeks reddened upon reading. "I know what I'm up against—when it comes to Damon and what he's done… But _you _have no idea what you're up against when it comes to _me; _and I don't think you want to find out."

Rebekah didn't say a word as she eyed Bonnie in the visual stand off—taking in the confident air that swarmed the brunette, as if she didn't have a fear in the world.

But she knew that she did—even if _Bonnie, _herself, didn't know it yet.

"Dinner's at _Bouley, _in TriBeCa—at seven P.M, sharp. A car will be here to pick us up a half hour before then—don't be late to the lobby," Rebekah said snootily as she stared between the two while Damon glanced at his watch.

_12:30 P.M; definitely enough time to get back to what he and Bonnie were doing, for sure._

"We'll be there," Bonnie said certainly, and much to Rebekah's dismay, as her ring sparkled against the light once more, with the swing of her hand. "You can count on it."

"_Might I ask if there's room for two more?"_

The three turned around to see Klaus approaching, with an awkward Elena right behind him—smiling widely in all their directions; more so _smugly _when he met Rebekah.

"Klaus?" Damon said in surprise, as he glanced into his best friend's eyes and then casted a gaze on Elena. "What the hell are you two doing here?"

"I may have sort of talked Rich into getting me into that event for tomorrow," he said, before gesturing towards Elena. "And she's just here for the ride."

"I'll bet," Rebekah muttered as she met the girl's eyes before smiling shallowly at her cousin and extending her arms for a hug. "It's been so long, Niklaus."

"Not long enough," he retorted, as Rebekah scoffed and dropped her hands. "I'm here to work—not play family."

Rebekah shoved her arms against her chest before staring at Elena brazenly, and the girl cleared her throat as she waved at Damon and Bonnie with a feigned smile, though she felt nothing but fear in the pits of her stomach.

Rebekah knew her secret; about her involvement with Stefan to break up Damon and Bonnie. If she opened her mouth, all Hell would break loose; and by _Hell, _she meant Bonnie pummeling her face with her fists. Repeatedly.

_Maybe she shouldn't have come._

"I'm happy to see you," Bonnie said, as she reached forward to hug her best friend, and Elena sighed against Bonnie's body as she wrapped her arms around her.

There was nothing worse than feeling the weight of your guilt completely _crush _you, just as you convinced yourself on a plane ride here that you could get over it.

_There was no chance of that with Rebekah around._

"I'm happy to see you too," Elena said softly, as her head nestled on Bonnie's shoulders and she felt the blaze of Rebekah's eyes continue to watch on.

She was beginning to realize that this would be the _last _time she'd ever hear Bonnie say as such.

**A/N: Hello everyone! So, I hope you all enjoyed the latest update of our topsy-turvy-drama-filled-story that is slowly but surely coming about! First things first—Damon and Bonnie! He finally confessed to her about what he's been involved with and do you think Bonnie took it better than you thought? She seems to really believe in him and she's even starting to fall in love with him. Do you think she's just a fool for wanting to help him, or a good woman for standing by his side? Thoughts! Also—ahem—her ring is back and yes! But expect things to get even tenser between she and Rebekah; and **_**clearly, **_**Rebekah and Elena. Stay tuned. Secondly—I should be honest and say that I INITIALLY never really planned on pursuing a thing with Klaus and Elena (I just wanted to give them both some development last chapter) but a bunch of you were SCREAMING for more "Klena," so I decided to run with it. I've cooked up some interesting plots for these two in my mind and you'll deff see more of them next time around. Carolijah will also be back as well. ;) What else did you think of the chapter? Stefan and Bonnie? Klaus and Damon? Bonnie as HBIC? Thoughts, thoughts, thoughts! As you all know, I love you VERY MUCH and I appreciate the enthusiasm that this story has been met with. I definitely DIDN'T expect it at all. Thank you so much for tuning and review/enjoy! Until next time my loves. xoxo**


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